A Tale of Two Freckles

First off, that's a lie. There are more than two freckles -- there's a whole face of 'em. But it's a Thai freckle tale, nonetheless.

Somewhere at the beginning of the school year, we had class pictures taken. It was a fun event, and the girls were going crazy with straighteners, curling irons, and blow dryers. The boys were fooling around in the picture-taking room and teased each other mercilessly for the poses the photographers were making them do. Teachers also got pictures taken. I ordered class pictures and received my own complimentary individual picture set. Now I'm stuck with a dozen pictures of me in various sizes. Makes me feel like I'm in middle school again. Oh wait, I am.
The point being, when the pictures came in I was distinctly devoid of the one thing that defines my face: my freckles. Thanks "U-Smile" for photo-shopping these right off of me. Apparently, if they don't like what they see, they delete it.

The story continues about a month back -- right before Christmas break -- when I had to see a dermatologist about, well, skin problems. In my follow-up visit after my doctor checked the affected area on my hands, she pointed at my face and asked if I wanted to make an appointment to get them removed by laser. I asked her what she was talking about, and she said my freckles. With a frown and a smile, I told her no. I had to ask why in the world would she ask such an odd question. Her reply, Thais don't like freckles. They come in all the time to get freckles and other moles removed.

Ah, that answers so many questions. This is why I've never seen a Thai with facial moles or freckles. This is why I've heard so many comments on my freckles (not that I'm the least bit Thai). And this is why all my freckles were photo-shopped out of my school picture.