Stories of Your Life and Others

From a broadcast of EduNews:
Netsites for a dozen calliagnosia student organizations around the
country were brought down today in a coordinated denial-of-service attack.
Although no one claimed responsibility, some suggest the perpetrators are
retaliating for last month's incident in which the American Association of
Cosmetic Surgeons' net-site was replaced by a calliagnosia site.
Meanwhile, the SemioTech Warriors announced the release of their
new "Dermatology" computer virus. This virus has begun infecting video
servers around the world, altering broadcasts so that faces and bodies
exhibit conditions such as acne and varicose veins.
Warren Davidson, first-year student:
I thought about trying calli before, when I was in high school, but I
never knew how to bring it up with my parents. So when they started
offering it here, I figured I'd give it a try. (shrugs) It's okay.
Actually, it's better than okay. (pause) I've always hated how I look.
For a while in high school I couldn't stand the sight of myself in a mirror.
But with calli, I don't mind as much. I know I look the same to other people,
but that doesn't seem as big a deal as it used to. I feel better just by not
being reminded that some people are so much better-looking than others.
Like, for instance: I was helping this girl in the library with a problem on
her calculus homework, and afterwards I realized that she's someone I'd
thought was really pretty. Normally I would have been really nervous
around her, but with calli, she wasn't so hard to talk to.
Maybe she thinks I look like a freak, I don't know, but the thing was,
when I was talking to her I didn't think I looked like a freak. Before I got
calli, I think I was just too self-conscious, and that just made things worse.
Now I'm more relaxed.
It's not like I suddenly feel all wonderful about myself or anything, and
I'm sure for other people calli wouldn't help them at all, but for me, calli
makes me not feel as bad as I used to. And that's worth something.