Zit!!!

Yo! I'm 27 years old and I'm still getting zits -- not dainty little, "isn't-that-cute-she's-stressed-out-and-has-been-eating-chocolate" pimples, but real down-and-dirty lumps of blaring red hurt and embarrassment. Not so cool.

I can all but forget about the one, two or three "problem" spots on my visage because I'm the only lucky devil who doesn't get to probe them all day long (you don't want to look, but you just HAVE to) with curious eyes.

But, it seems that my friends on Ojika think it's their responsibility to remind me of the fact that scientists somewhere have yet to create an air-brush for reality.

Last night I was having dinner (we had quite a spread -- including my very own spinach and cheese stuffed chicken breasts thank you very much!) with some of the female JHS teachers. I was in the middle of flashing my typical beer grin and listening to an amusing story when Saori reached over and poked my zit. She just poked my zit! Who pokes someone else's zit? Seriously. Then, she was like, "what's that?" but in a very "I-know-what-it-is-and-I-want-to-sympathize" kind of way. So, thanks to her, I had the whole party examining my facial flaw.

I've developed a pretty thick skin for being publicly (and thoroughly) examined so it was just another night par for the course. However, because of my zit, I learned a little "diddy" (shall we call it?) that the JHS teachers said when they were the age of the students they now teach.

They explained to me that a zit on the forehead means "love". (I'm guessing with some fantasized Prince Charming of junior high school proportions.) A zit on the chin means there isn't love. A zit on your right cheek means that the person you love does not love you. And, a zit on the left cheek means that you don't love the person who loves you. (They added a post script about a zit on the nose meaning that you and your fictional love interest are in love with one-another, but isn't that the same as a zit on the forehead? I wish I had asked.)

It just so happens my current monstrosity is located left of my nose, which means I do not love someone who loves me. And, sitting there, in Saori's house, the teachers really thought this bit of information would comfort me.

"Hey, I know it sucks to have a zit so big that people can't stop staring at it, but things could be worse. It could be on your right cheek, and you could love someone who doesn't love you."

Yeah. Maybe it could be worse.