Racoons

Here's the thing: I bet you that if I'm grumpy enough, your comment that goes to the tune of "Oh my God... are you ok? Why do you have such big circles under your eyes?" is not going to please me.

Sure, I could answer that the problem is that I only slept three hours the night before and I spent six hours with screaming teenagers all day, but the truth of the matter is that I was born with these racoon eyes and people ask me the same damn question even when I've had a full night's sleep. A good idea would be to not aggravate the situation by saying, "And not only do you have big, black circles, but you seem really pale... are you sick or something?"

Because you know what's crazy? I actually feel better right now than I have in a loooong time. So, I'm not totally sure what to respond to you. The easy answer would be, "Yeah, I'm tired and sick." The true answer would be, "Well, I'm sorta tired, but I feel like I have a new sense of energy, and it has come leaping out of me in the last four days. Despite this, however, my genetics are such that I have racoon eyes, and apparently pale skin to boot, and so people naturally think I'm sick or just miserable. Regardless, I'm neither one nor the other, and I feel just dandy! So, um... I don't know how to explain the circles under my eyes or the paleness of my skin other than by expressing that THAT'S JUST WHAT I LOOK LIKE."

This happens to me about once per week.

Can you really answer by saying, "Well, actually, I feel great! Thanks though!"?