They meant it as a joke, obviously. I’ve started breaking out in zits and I’ve got the mother-of-all-pimples growing on my cheek. It’s so bad the left side of my face literally sticks out. So we’re just sitting down and my mum goes, "Look at me for a sec. Oh, (to dad) doesn’t he look deformed?
Ouch…that’s pretty cruel. People can say fucked up things without realizing just how fucked up they sound. Of course…they shouldn’t do such things. I’d let them know it was hurtful…don’t bottle it all up inside. That’s a bad idea…communication is good, and all that.
Even jokingly, that is still such a horrible thing to say to anyone, much less your own child. My sister had serious acne, throughout junior high and high school and was teased unmericfully by one kid, including ‘deformed’ (hence, my knee-jerk jump into this thread). He finally stopped when his own face started breaking out badly. That and a few well-chosen words to the right people got him a good lecture after a ‘swirlie’. [By the way, after a few visits to the dermologist, everything cleared up, and the little b@st@rd had the chutzpah to ask her out. She said no.]
On a more personal note, I really hate when you have the one honking zit that screams for attention. Mine is usually on the left side of my face, mid-cheek: I had burned myself with a curling iron awhile ago, the skin is a lot rougher there, and every so often, Mt. Vesuvius will rise from the ashes and re-form from the depths. No eruption, but sometimes it does come close to forming a crater. Thankfully, it usually subsides within a couple of weeks, but man, it does feel like I am listing to port when I walk.
You have to let it grow until it looks like a second head, then pop it in front of a digital camera and post the avi on the web for all the zitpoppers here in SDMB to enjoy.
Haven’t you seen the Straight Dope article where Cecil advises not to pop your pimples because you can get infected? Those blood vessels lead directly to your brain, too, IIRC. (It’s not just Cecil, either (although I would probably take his word on the issue alone); my dermatologist and everyone who works for him keep reminding me not to pop my pimples for those reasons.