For those of you who are used to seeing beautiful people, what do you think when you see someone unattractive while passing them on the street? Do you feel nothing?

Today, while I was about to get into a taxi at the station, I saw a little girl, probably elementary-school age, take off her mask right in front of me and drink some juice. I was shocked by her face once she removed the mask. She had a pig-like, round nose, a long philtrum, and thick, dark lips. I watched her drink her juice while looking at me with narrow, monolid eyes. She was so unattractive that I found it unpleasant. I caught myself thinking, “How will she manage to get through life with a face that awful? Even if she could afford plastic surgery, she’s so ugly that she could never become beautiful—she probably couldn’t even have an average-looking face.” I also thought she probably couldn’t do papa-katsu (compensated dating in Japan). It felt like she had inherited all her parents’ worst features. I guess unattractive parents really do have unattractive children. When I pass people on the street, I often glance at them and think things like, “Wow, what an awful face,” or “That person is incredibly beautiful.” Just as people say you can read someone’s character from their features, I feel like you can tell 90% of what someone is like on the inside from their appearance. Other people shouldn’t matter to me, yet I find myself judging random people I pass by, deciding whether they’re unattractive, beautiful, or handsome. It’s exhausting, and even though I’m the one doing it, it leaves me feeling awful. Maybe I’m using it to reassure myself of my own worth. How can I stop thinking of people as ugly?