Like most teenage girls, I was nervous to wear a bikini in public. Unlike most teenage girls, I also had (and have) psoriasis. However, when I went camping with my family I decided to throw caution to the wind and ‘dare’ to wear a two-piece. Well. I was having so much fun swimming and skipping rocks across the river that I had forgotten all about my skin when a woman who was a stranger to me approached and, pointing at my spots, said with real curiosity, ‘'What happened? The chiggers get ya?” I was speechless for a moment, utterly shocked that a stranger would feel comfortable commenting on my body. Then, I extended my hand for her to shake, and when she took it I said, deadpan, “No, I have leprosy.”