“Hey, did you know your ear sticks out?” “No, of course I don’t. It’s not like I have been self-conscious about it for the last 20 years or anything. My God.” Literally my life in a nutshell right there.

Ever since I was born, my right ear has stuck out. My left ear? Perfectly normal. But my right is flatter and not pinned back to my head as in should be.

And for that whole life my mom told me it was because of the way my ear had been pressed up against her in the womb, and that it had just developed like that. I believed her because it made total sense to me.

In high school, my friend group included my ear. It was the third wheel, the constant target of ridicule. Of course it was all in good fun, but even playful banter got to me. I was already the pale, flat-chested girl… I didn’t need to be the ear one too. I mean I legitimately had a friend who would scream, “The red river is flowing,” down the hall when I had my period. So adding my ear to the mix only caused more jokes.

It wasn’t until junior year of high school when I started looking into surgery and finally went to a plastic surgeon. It was there that the doctor identified what it actually was: Stahl’s Ear.

Never heard of it? Neither has every other doctor I’ve casually mentioned it to.

Stahl’s Ear: purely cosmetic, nothing I should have any right to complain about. It occurs when there is an extra crease or fold in the cartilage. Typically, it can manifest in an elfish-shaped ear, so I am definitely considered one of the lucky ones. The only way to fix it is either ear-molding when you’re a newborn, or surgery. So as you can see, surgery is my only option.

But then we realized how expensive it would be. $1,400. So my parents told me it would either be a car or the procedure. And me, a junior in high school, obviously chose the car.

It was the absolute right decision. I’m sure you can understand why.

I used to be so worried that I would get made fun of, that every single picture I took would look ridiculous. And I still get worried if I have my hair up or what have you, but it’s normal now.

This is me, and though I have the option to have the surgery in the future, I’m not sure I even want it anymore. Honestly, I don’t think anyone really cares. I made people care, and now that I don’t care, no one else has a reason to.

So go ahead, say something about it. Because I love my stupid, ugly ear.