Who ever said that, you are who you hang out with, is absolutely a genius, in my opinion at least. The funny thing is that I was thinking about this a few days ago and was meaning to write about it but didn’t have the chance too until today. After what I saw this morning, I knew I had to share it with all of you. First off ever since I was in grade school the concept of ‘you are who you hang out with’ was very clear because there was the different groups at school that classified themselves as either the ‘skaters who all did drugs’ or the ‘cheerleaders that were all sluts’ or the ‘the nerds that were all about science.’ You rarely came across the ‘skater who liked science’ or the ‘cheerleader who did drugs’ or the ‘nerd who was a slut.’ Ha-ha get my point? It really is that you mold yourself into the personality and characteristics of who you hang out with because within that group of friends it seems that only that is what is right and the rest of the people are either ‘not cool, nerds, or just plain old sluts.’
This concept can go both ways though and what I mean by that is exactly what happened to me in my early 20’s. A few years ago I dated a guy who was known as the druggie in the city we grew up in and so because we dated and were a known couple everyone around us was 100% sure that I was doing drugs myself. Little did they know that I never touched a single drug in my life or even knew until later that my boyfriend was known for that or even touched it. During our dating period, I had lost a lot of weight from hardcore workouts and dieting and of course dating a druggie, the first thing that came to every ones mind was that I was doing drugs and that is how I lost all that weight. It really upset me that just because I was hanging out with him the assumption had to be that I was just like him in all means possible, especially drugs. But I make my point clearly when I say that in many peoples eyes, ‘you are who you hang out with.’
What happened today that really got me thinking was my trip to Beverly Hills, Rodeo Dr. this morning. The situation I am about to explain is not exactly what I mentioned in the beginning of this column but still proves my point. As I made my way to Barney’s of New York I already got the feel for the ‘personality of the city’ by just driving by all the stores and seeing all the cars and people. Everyone knows that when you say ‘Beverly Hills’ you automatically associate it with ‘rich and snobby.’ Since Barney’s was not open at that time I went and sat at a coffee shop on Rodeo Dr. and people watched for a bit. As I sat there looking I realized that every single person that I saw walk past me was either a rich looking woman dressed in expensive designer clothes or the rich business man walking up to their expensive cars on their cell phones. I automatically turned my attention to ‘celebrity radar’ because I was sure I would see Lindsay Lohan or Britney Spears shopping because ‘Hello its Beverly Hills!!” Why don’t I expect to see Britney Spears at the Sherman Oaks mall or Fashion Island? Which mind you have very similar designer name brand stores. See my point, it all has to do with not only ‘you are who you hang out with but you apparently turn into the stereotype of the city you live in as well.
Does one have to be rich and famous to live the life of a celebrity in a city like Beverly Hills or does one just have to surround themselves with the personality of such a type and all else will be molded into place?
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