Way back when I was in
high school, I took a speech class with a bunch of other
geeks. Somehow the enrollment got all screwed up, and there was just one
popular girl in the class- the rest of us were
truly geeks. For her
explanatory speech, she gave a rousing demonstration of how to pick a
zit. I was really not paying attention... I was
blessed with
clear skin in high school and thought you weren't supposed to pick anyway, that it would
infect your pores and you'd end up with a bright
red raspberry on your face letting everyone else in the world know you'd tried (and
failed) at picking a zit.
Anyway, Barb (that was
her name) was standing up in front of the class and explaining about
sebaceous glands and the difference between
whiteheads and
blackheads and how to actually pick a zit without backing up crap into your face. I was reminded of this when my boyfriend, my sister, her
husband and I were talking about the habits mothers seem to have of
doing a biopsy on any blemish found on a child... my mother still picks at my sisters' ears with
hairpins. Later that night, I realized that
Barb was the only popular girl in that class.
I then became aware that she had probably
given that
speech in order to somehow shame all of us geeks in the class.
I'm glad it didn't work.