![\"You](\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/r9f.352.myftpupload.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/04\/You-Look-Fine-El-Toro-County-Park-April-2015-e1430186561209.jpg?resize=584%2C779\")
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Recently my husband and I came across this signpost after hauling ourselves up a steep hill in Toro County Park<\/a>, a vast region of rolling hills, trails, and recreational facilities on the outskirts of Salinas.<\/p>\n Was it social commentary on our fat-shaming and appearance-obsessed culture? Or just the frustrated lament of someone waiting for hiking companions to tidy up their wind-blown and hat-crushed hair for a quick smartphone photo? (More important, would there be another signpost at the end of our long, hot, trek pronouncing, \u201cYou Look Like Hell?\u201d)<\/p>\n The message was welcome, if oddly placed, and one that got me thinking (which helped propel me up the many arduous and dusty miles to come, not to mention providing me with a “Y” post that is not a bunch of Yosemite photos or a “Y Am I Doing this Challenge?” lament).<\/p>\n Mostly I think of \u201cYou Look Fine\u201d as the bare-minimum response that gets a man out of trouble when asked the world\u2019s most dangerous question: \u201cDoes this make me look fat?\u201d<\/p>\n (In case that unforgivably gender-stereotyped sentence makes your blood boil, rest assured that just this morning, my husband, who is red-green color-blind, asked as he was rushing out the door if his jacket looked okay with his pants. \u201cNo, it doesn\u2019t,\u201d I said. \u201cYou should wear something else.\u201d He looked upset and hurried off as I unconvincingly called after him, \u201cIt\u2019s fine. Really.\u201d<\/em> Later I emailed him the \u201cYou Look Fine\u201d photo, amending my early morning candor.)<\/p>\n Wouldn\u2019t it be nice if \u201cYou Look Fine\u201d signposts proliferated? Imagine them replacing mirrors, or showing up in <\/em><\/strong>mirrors, alongside your reflection! What if they were on street corners, subways, doctors\u2019 offices? Even better, what if we could get away from feeling influenced by any<\/em> assessment of our appearance, whether positive or negative?<\/p>\n What we really need are signposts that say \u201cYou Are<\/strong> Fine.\u201d<\/p>\n *<\/p>\n What’s your theory about how the mysterious YLF signpost got there? What signposts would you like to see proliferating in unexpected places?<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Recently my husband and I came across this signpost after hauling ourselves up a steep hill in Toro County Park, a vast region of rolling hills, trails, and recreational facilities on the outskirts of Salinas. Was it social commentary on … Continue reading