From the looks of things

Growing up, there was a magazine that I guess was suppose to compete with “LIFE” that was called “LOOK.” I never quite understood whether the title was a description of what the publication did (i.e. “look” at people and events) or a demand that its readership (or, in this case, lookership) “look” at the magazine (after, of course, paying for it.) Anyway, “look” is one of those things we do while incorporating the various aspects of what “look” really means into our daily lives.

Thus, all of us profess to have an outlook on life, even as we aspire to look good, date the good looking and marry the “looker.”

The cautious stop, look and listen, the suspicious look over their shoulder, and the wise don’t look back (“because they could be gaining on you.”) The curious take a look around, labor looks for the union label, the mischievous look for trouble and the discrete look before they leap. Alice had her looking glass and I would know what author had “Look Homeward Angel” if only I had had the time to look it up.

The impatient begin with “now, look here …” Southerners sing Look away, Dixie land, while if looks could kill many of us wouldn’t be here. Generals demand their troops look sharp and look lively, while bombardiers and generations of water-balloon-dropping-little boys have warned, “look out below,” just as mountain tops, pirate ships and bank robbers have each had “lookouts” of their own.

In response to complaints or suggestions bureaucrats and small-time politicians will promise to “take a look,” or “look it over” or “look into it” (though they rarely do.) While bakers, china shop owners and fashion models admonish us to look with our eyes and not with our hands, the three words retail merchants hate most are, “sorry, just looking.”

Critics look you up and down; snobs look down their noses; the deliberate take a long, hard look; optimists insist things are “looking good,” and very, very often we encounter look-alikes (like me and Brad Pitt!)

Even more often, however, we find those looking to find fault and looking to catch you at something. When they look around they don’t like the looks of this or that, unless something looks fishy and then they look the other way.

But, you know, when you look beyond those who would forever look askance, you find wonderful folks with a positive outlook looking out for one another. These are people who look up to parents and teachers, overlook mistakes and always look for the silver lining. They look within, and find the strength to look ahead and look forward. For them (and their onlookers) things are continuously looking up and that is a wonderful thing to see.

© Copyright © 2011 Ron Goldman Ron Goldman is an attorney in private practice with offices in Cedarhurst and can be reached @ 1-800-846-9013