The story is told of...
Illustration
The story is told of a man and a woman who met and fell in love by mail. (Nowadays people are doing that by e-mail, but this is an old, low-tech story). After months of correspondence, the two agreed to a rendezvous. He would travel to her city, and they would meet for the first time at the airport. Each of them had no idea what the other looked like -- so they agreed on a simple visual code: she would wear a green scarf, a green hat, and a green carnation.
As the man got off the plane, he began looking for the one he loved. Eagerly scanning the crowd, his eye lit upon a woman with a green hat, green scarf, and green carnation.
In that instant of recognition, the man's heart sank -- for this was truly one of the most homely, unattractive women he had ever laid eyes on. He very nearly walked off without speaking a word -- but he had come this far, he told himself, and she was expecting him, so he introduced himself.
"Am I glad to see you!" the woman responds. "Can you tell me what this whole thing is about? That woman over there gave me $20 to wear these things."
And there, on a bench, sat the most beautiful woman the man had ever seen. Later, she explained that, all her life, men had fallen over themselves to get to her, only to become tongue-tied in her presence -- and all because of her looks. "I wanted someone to love me not for my outward appearance," she confessed, "but because I'm beautiful inside."
As the man got off the plane, he began looking for the one he loved. Eagerly scanning the crowd, his eye lit upon a woman with a green hat, green scarf, and green carnation.
In that instant of recognition, the man's heart sank -- for this was truly one of the most homely, unattractive women he had ever laid eyes on. He very nearly walked off without speaking a word -- but he had come this far, he told himself, and she was expecting him, so he introduced himself.
"Am I glad to see you!" the woman responds. "Can you tell me what this whole thing is about? That woman over there gave me $20 to wear these things."
And there, on a bench, sat the most beautiful woman the man had ever seen. Later, she explained that, all her life, men had fallen over themselves to get to her, only to become tongue-tied in her presence -- and all because of her looks. "I wanted someone to love me not for my outward appearance," she confessed, "but because I'm beautiful inside."
