The perks of being a bad girl

“Good girls go to heaven, bad girls go everywhere,” says Helen Gurley Brown, former editor of the world's famous fashion magazine Cosmopolitan.

As a person who likes to call myself a nomad, I take myself on a tour of different places whenever I have time. But the most convenient of all is the “street tour” as it can be easily done whenever you want. I always try to pay close attention to all the words I find on the street from store names to signs on the door. They can be great entertainment as writing reveals so much about the person who wrote it. Walk aimlessly in Jongno, and you will find great words on the billboard of Kyobo, Gwanghwamun which boasts decades of history. The banner of the Jongno fire station also offers remarkable wisdom – “If you fail to prepare, you are preparing for failure.”

Samcheong-dong is home to many cozy little streets. I decided to walk on the opposite side of the road to the one I usually take. Beautiful scenery unfolded as if it was trying to live up to its reputation as a street designated as a beautiful street. I looked up from a plant pot, and “Good girls go to heaven, bad girls go everywhere,” a rather provocative sentence written on a white door in gothic font, grabbed my attention. I posted it on social media. A friend of mine said it is a famous line from “Thelma and Louise,” and other people said it is Jim Steinman’s song title. No matter who first said the words, I believe they became my voice when they resonated with and were quoted by me.

Any kind person who wants to meet other people’s expectations cannot help but repress their true self. Be willing to disappoint sometimes, and you will have more options in your life. Buddhist monk Baek-jang (720-814)’s saying, “Do not mind the consequences if they are the results of your own choice,” goes through my mind in a very short moment.


tjdrud0306@donga.com