Althouse: "I'd be dripping with sweat before every shift, I was so nervous and scared about people's reactions..."

November 18, 2010

"I'd be dripping with sweat before every shift, I was so nervous and scared about people's reactions..."

"... but at the same time I met so many nice people who were genuinely interested in me and my face."

16 comments:

The Crack Emcee said...: It has resulted in several operations, numerous hospital visits and his parents giving him up for adoption 36 hours after he was born.

Let me go first:

People suck.

also, when I lived in Europe, I saw all kinds of facial structures that blew my mind - from both Europeans and Africans. Enlarged brows, distorted noses, all kinds of shit. Some truly horrifying.

I think we Americans are truly evolved or something.; 11/18/10, 9:21 AM
I'm Full of Soup said...: The first part of that quote sounds like it may be from a TSA groin examiner.; 11/18/10, 9:22 AM
MadisonMan said...: What a great friend, the guy who initially gave him a job and started him down the road he's on.

Great story!; 11/18/10, 9:25 AM
Palladian said...: He's actually got a quite interesting face.; 11/18/10, 9:28 AM
The Crack Emcee said...: Palladian,

He's actually got a quite interesting face.

I thought so, too. He looks like a friend of mine from High School.; 11/18/10, 9:40 AM
Clyde said...: @ The Crack Emcee

"I think we Americans are truly evolved or something."

Go scroll through the mug shots at TheSmokingGun.com and get back to me on that...; 11/18/10, 9:43 AM
Trooper York said...: He kind of looks like Fred Gwynne.

And we all know that he had a secret.; 11/18/10, 10:03 AM
Larry J said...: Over 10 years ago, I met a man from the Philippines with Elephant Man Syndrome. His entire head was horribly deformed and about twice normal size. Whenever I think my problems are bad, I think of him. I can't even imagine the difficulties he's experienced in his life.; 11/18/10, 11:33 AM
Richard Dolan said...: "He's actually got a quite interesting face."

Yes. And until he grew up, he couldn't figure that out. More proof, if any were needed, that youth is wasted on the young.; 11/18/10, 12:04 PM
ken in tx said...: I think it has to do with nutrition.; 11/18/10, 12:24 PM
Jennifer said...: I'm fascinated that this man doesn't even seem to be considering adoption when he talks about wanting a family but not wanting to pass on the condition. I wonder why that is.

The passage in which he wished that parents would encourage their children to ask about his face rather than instruct them to stop staring stuck out to me, too. I always tell my kids to stop staring. Sometimes we discuss amongst ourselves why people look/act/whatever differently than we do, but I don't know if I'd ever feel confident in instructing them to march up to someone and ask about it. Seems like that could go horribly wrong. I wonder how typical his feelings on the subject are.; 11/18/10, 12:31 PM
Jennifer said...: Crack,

I think we Americans operate more, when we can. I worked in the administration at a large processing plant in the rural South and saw significantly more facial deformities than I'd ever seen in my middle class upbringing. My best friend in high school had been born with webbing between his fingers and a drooping eye, but his family had that operated on early on in life. By the time I met him, the only remaining vestiges of the original problem were a totally sexy set of different colored eyes. One would never have known the rest.; 11/18/10, 12:35 PM
Old RPM Daddy said...: Well, that girl Laura sure did take a shine to him. Good on 'im -- she's a real cutie!

WV: khallicy. I have no idea. It sounds like it ought to mean something, though.; 11/18/10, 1:29 PM
The Crack Emcee said...: Jennifer,

I think we Americans operate more, when we can.

Yea, you're probably right. My best friend and I like to watch old movies because the men have such distinctive faces. You know, those kinds of Humphrey Bogart-era faces. Also, the men were just more mature than the kids we're handed today.

As far as this guy's concerned, if I was a friend of his, I'd tell him to forget the parents. They're a couple of shits and no good can come from meeting them. They gave you up, dude, let it go:

It's you who are free now.; 11/18/10, 1:49 PM
Famous Original Mike said...: Good for that guy. That must've been tough growing up; I'm glad he's made it through to adulthood where the people may not be less shitty but at least they hide it better.; 11/18/10, 2:45 PM
William said...: He figured out how to balance the equation and internalized symmetry has a kind of magnetism. There are worse fates than ugliness. His middle years promise to be much better than those of JFK Jr.; 11/18/10, 11:27 PM