No, I’m not tired. But thanks, I guess?
What am I supposed to say to this? “I make an effort to get enough sleep each night, so no, actually, I’m really not.”
For some reason, people do not hesitate to tell me when they think I look tired. And I know what you’re thinking. You’re probably a sweet person giving these folks the benefit of the doubt, saying, “Oh, but maybe they just are concerned about you,” or, “Maybe you actually do look tired.” But, NO! This is NOT the case. This does not happen as an excuse to hand me a fresh latte, nor is it followed by an “are you OK?” to feign interest in my life or start a conversation. It’s in passing. It’s in the hallway at work. It’s a statement. An observation.
Can someone please tell me what good comes from telling another person that he/she looks tired?
I am typically told I look tired when I am not wearing any make up. I do not believe this is a coincidence. (I also do not believe it to be a coincidence that the only people who observe my “tiredness” do not wear makeup themselves.) You see, this is not the first time this has happened to me. It’s pretty much guaranteed: if I do not have on eye liner or mascara, people confuse it for exhaustion.
Is it my fault? Should I expose the world to my 36-year-old, melasma-splotched, sun-damaged, acne-scarred face more often? Am I “false-advertising?” Is makeup the pushup bra for the face? Will I find a meme of myself on the internet, with and without makeup, blamed for some poor soul’s trust issues? Or, are the people who say “you look tired” the same type of people who tell you to smile for no apparent reason other than they would prefer to see you looking more pleasant?
I know this is a silly gripe. There are definitely worse things going on in the world, but hearing this when I’m feeling peppy really deflates my balloon! So, please, stop telling me I look tired—unless I just yawned, and in that case, send caffeine!
I love this! This happens to me all the time! Especially this past weekend to the point that by the 5th person told me “I looked tired, was I feeling okay?” I went home and broke down in tears! Did I really look that bad? I was feeling really good at each of those times… and like you said, who says that? I rarely tell anyone that. I even have strangers tell me that in passing – who are you to tell me that? How do you even know what I look like “normally”. And the smile thing? Grinds my nerves so much that I want to throat punch someone when they tell me that! I have resorted to telling these people that I have recently been diagnosed with RBF. They then look all solemn and say “what is that? I’m sorry” and I tell them Resting Bitch Face now, leave me alone!”