THE GIFT IN THE BOX

In an unlinked column written recently by a good friend of mine who writes for The Mississippi Press, she chronicles hers and a co-worker's attempt at getting accepted for ABC's "Extreme Makeover"; something I admit I'd never heard of until recently. Towards the end of her article Donna reveals some startling statistics:

According to The New York Times, the success of plastic surgery shows like "Swan," "Extreme," and "Famous Face" is in keeping with the national increase in surgical procedures.

In a recent article they toss out startling statistics from the American Society of Plastic Surgeons: 8.7 million cosmetic plastic surgeries were performed in 2003 -- a 32 percent increase from 2002.

Fox News reported that last year alone 220,000 plastic surgery procedures
were performed on teens.

We've become fixated on the wrapping, forgetting the gift in the box.

8.7 million??? 220,000 on TEENS??? I don't know whether to laugh or cry. What is it that blinds people to the beauty within them?