Too Short and Ugly

I have a Friendster account, under my real name, of course. Recently, a girl in Korea has been emailing me every day or so about different things. I mentioned to her that I did some "modeling" for some Korean companies and she wanted to hear about the experience. So, here's what I wrote (BTW, her English isn't very advanced, so I adjusted mine to accomodate):

-----------

There is some suspense (fun and excitement waiting) in modeling, I think. They dress you, put makeup on you, then take many pictures. You feel very silly and wonder if they are going to be ugly. Then one day, you see yourself in the newspaper. Big ad. And then you wonder if people will THINK you are ugly. =D

Unfortunately, you never find out what people think. And then, one day, someone wants you to be in another ad. Then you think, "I must not be so ugly after all." Then you see the ad and you think, "Gosh, I REALLY look ugly." But for some reason, they keep using the ad and you see it everywhere: phone books, newspapers, posters. You want them to stop using it but they do not. People tell you they saw your ugly ad. Terrible feeling...

-----------

Truthfully, I'm not physically the model type. For one, I'm not very tall. Not short, but just not tall in the traditional model sense. That's why I refer to those things as "doing print," not modeling. Print jobs don't often require a certain height.

The job I referred to where the ad appeared everywhere is an actual ad that I see from time-to-time in Korean phone books and newspapers. It's for a hospital and I'm on the beach with a wife and kid. The wife, who was very beautiful in the photo and in real life, is actually an inch taller than me. Plus, I weigh more than her. So, with the kid on my shoulders, I was always sinking into the sand. She, consequently, had to dig her feet further into the sand to make us look about even.

A long time ago, when I was a serious writer and editor at a magazine, I'd see a few models come through the office. A couple of them asked if I did any acting or modeling and I just laughed off the suggestion. For one, I always thought I was too short and just not handsome enough.

But you should know something: everyone, no matter how tall or good-looking they are, thinks the same thing. Plus, some of the busiest actors and models are also some of the most average-looking people in the business. You'd never recognize them on the street, even though they work ALL THE TIME. That's because some companies want someone who is experienced but not recognizable.

But just remember one thing: Being too ugly can work against you, too, just as being too beautiful can. The key, I suppose, is to be not too ugly, and not too beautiful. And that fits pretty much the majority of us.