Putting Your Best Face Forward
By Veronica MacDonald Ditko
An Accidental Anthropologist
I see it happen so many times on the road. People cross a street and never look back to see if, by chance, a car is turning onto the street they are crossing. This is not a comment on pedestrians or drivers really, but rather a comment on how awkward we humans are.
Ever hear the saying “Put your best face forward”? Well, er, what else are you going to put forward? Humans are forward-facing species. We can’t turn our necks around like an owl. We can’t see behind us like the hundreds of eyes bugs have. And we get really handicapped by winter hats, scarves, and hoods because turning is not just a pain; it is pretty much impossible.
I’ll admit I believed my mother when she said she had eyes in the back of her head for far too long. She never missed a thing. And now I know it was all because of the rear view mirror. Maybe hats should be sold with rear view mirrors, just like a car. But maybe they could be a little camouflaged somehow to trick kids. I don’t know how, it’s just a thought.
Or, according to some far out books I’ve read, apparently you can see everything if you just tune into your sixth sense or some kind of higher consciousness. And you would be able to see people’s auras too.
But back to the reality that I know….it makes you wonder why on earth humans were designed to only look forward. I guess if you are hunting a deer in the woods, it is pretty unlikely other deer will gang up behind you and attack. And really there are very few animals that travel in packs just looking to prance on humans. Well, at least in northern New Jersey.
But wouldn’t we all be better off seeing more of what’s around us?
Veronica MacDonald Ditko is originally from the Jersey Shore, but married and settled in northern New Jersey. Her journalism career started a decade ago after studying Psychology and Anthropology in Massachusetts. She has written for several newspapers and magazines including The Daily Hampshire Gazette, The Springfield Union News and Sunday Republican, Happi, Chemical Week, The Hawthorne Press, The Jewish Standard, Suite101.com and more.