“You can put lipstick on a pig, but it’s still a pig.” Abstractly, I experienced this saying first hand last week!

Upon walking a few blocks to a neighborhood 7-ELEVEN store to get a cold drink, it was realized that the refrigerator was locked, with a sticker on the door stating to ask the sales associate for assistance.  There wasn’t anyone to ask for help nearby, so I went to the cash register where a young man was ringing up other customers, and asked, “Why is the refrigerator locked?”  He nonchalantly answered, “Because we’ve been having a lot of theft lately, there’s usually a poster in front of the store with pictures of the people who steal.”  I answered in disbelief, “Are we in the ‘hood’?!” The man says, “You didn’t know that?”

Thought process at that very moment :

{ Wait a minute, just a few blocks away are 2 beautiful parks, one of them being the world-renowned Central Park. The neighborhood is so “NYC,” with so many great restaurants, things to do, and a diversity of cultures. The apartment that I JUST moved into is so nicely renovated, with a chic look and all new appliances; hmm, it’s no wonder it doesn’t break the bank!! }

Everything that ran through my mind was all the lipstick on the pig! Lifestyle habits and patterns of the area’s residents become inherent traits of the neighbor-hood. All of the outside factors that appealed to me doesn’t change the “culture” of the district.

This is a good metaphor to remember before getting too sold on the outside appearance of anything in life.

*Note: The word “hood” is used in an abstruse manner which is not concrete, referring to “neighborhood.”