Who Wants to Be Airbrushed?

Cliff and I took a cruise on the Adriatic Sea last November. Spending a week on the ship felt like we were living in a floating, glitzy village with festivities on every corner.

We loved our stateroom…

the water and the rainbows…

the walking deck…

the splashy drinks…

the spirited shows…

and the shore excursions. (I was nuts over this church in Santorini, Greece.)

The ship’s photographers pop up everywhere, especially in the evening when folks are on their way to dinner. The photographers are  VERY upbeat, and they make you feel like a model or a movie star.

The photos are posted the next day. When I saw ours, I was shocked. “They’re good!” I announced.

In a flash, Cliff went over to the counter and pulled out his credit card, something he never rushes to do. “We’ll take them,” he said to the young woman. “My wife has never liked a photo of herself before.”

On the way back to our cabin, I was pumped. “Gosh,” I said. “I do think we look pretty good in those pictures.”

“Well sure,” Cliff said. “Our wrinkles are gone.”

My heart sunk right there on that shiny stairway. We’d been airbrushed. Majorly.

So here’s the question:

Did we waste our money on photos that are fake? Or are these sweet treasures from our trip?

I did have the thought (which Cliff found morose) that the girls could display the photos at our funerals. No one would know how old we were when they were actually taken, and after all, that would give the photos more bang for their buck.

A few weeks later, I took them out of their envelope. I held one up for Cliff. “Do you want to be airbrushed?”

“On special occasions.”

Good answer. And this certainly was a special occasion. We had a blast.

Here is the real Cliff choosing red wine for his dinner on the cruise.

And here’s a not-so-great selfie of me. Note the deep wrinkles above the nose.

What about you?

Do you want to be airbrushed? Do you find the technique offensive or ageist? Does its contribute to the idea that old is ugly?

Or do you welcome some airbrushing from time to time? Do tell!