f/f george wrote:

Get off your high horse and come down to Earth and realize that it is
what is inside a person that counts, not what the part you see.

I totally agree with you about it is what is inside a person that counts.
Unfortunately, most people do judge by appearances.  You can either fight
against such prejudice or go with the flow.  In my own experience of
looking like a worthless hippie (I looked like Eric Korpela did in 2000),
I found progress slow.  When I followed Korpela's lead of shaving off the
beard and losing the beer belly, I found I received a lot more respect
from people.  It really was quite a revelation!  Now, when I wear my suit,
I can't walk down a street without young women throwing themselves at me! 
But why didn't they throw themselves at me when I looked like a worthless
hippie - after all my insides have not changed?  It is a shallow world we
live in.  :-(