I think most folks have heard the old saying, “different strokes for different folks.” This old saying was brought to mind a few days ago as I spoke to a friend, a former titan of Wall Street. He spends about half his time in San Jose, Costa Rica. In the course of our conversation, he expressed some wonder at what he saw walking down Avenida Central, one of the main pedestrian walkways. He was perplexed by seeing what he considered to be decent looking guys walking with their arms around fat, unattractive (to my friend) women. What’s up with that? he mused. That guy should be able to do better than HER!
Strangely enough, I had almost the opposite thought here in Medellin. Over and over I would see really attractive women with men who, to me, were ordinary looking, at best. As I thought about it a little, I was reminded of the saying above. Tastes differ, be it from person to person or culture to culture, or both at once.
[rau]
Most gringos I know prefer very slim girls. Some guys want them short, as well. Others have other preferences… tall, leggy, busty, big booty… and some even like ‘gordas.’ Latino men TEND to be a lot less focused on the ‘flaca’ thing. I have even met ‘flaca’ girls here and in Costa Rica who WANTED to put on weight. A different cultural perspective, for sure.
Personally, I try to look on the bright side. If I see a decent looking guy with a chica I wouldn’t want, I try to be grateful he didn’t take a HOT chick off the market. I guess it bothers me a bit more to see a hot chick with an unattractive guy. But I remind myself that there are still a ton of pretty women around, and who knows, maybe if she got to know me she’d dump the ugly guy? Ok, probably not. But I can dream.