I recently made a face part at the Face Factory. I remember exactly what it looked like because I was copying my shirt at the time. I remember I wanted it to have Verve's style.

If you don't know who Verve is, look her up in the city records. She owns the store Butterfly Effect. Her style I would say is tall and thin bodies. I made a body and realized it was shorter than most of her bodies, but oh well. I really liked it anyway, and I had worked for nearly 2 hours on it. It was definitely the best shirt I had ever made (getting back to that in a second...).

I waited anxiously for the longest Whyville week of my life until finally in my callbox was a letter from Akbar. I was sadly disappointed as I read the familiar letter telling me my body was too tall and there was too much waist. It said that they're looking more for shirts that show shoulders, neck and chest.

I had had this problem this summer, also. I made about 10 hard-worked shirts that were gorgeous to the bone, only to be rejected with the same familiar letter. I was seriously frustrated and wrote to Akbar in a polite letter, asking why Verve got to have her shirts accepted while mine were rejected.

Hers are no better -- I seriously don't understand! This is totally unfair!

I'm not sure what is going on. Who knows? Maybe verve is slipping twenties under the table to Akbar or maybe this is a serious case of discrimination!?

I'd appreciate if this were printed in the Times with a letter from the Editor, Akbar or Grenouille! Actually, you don't have to print it if you don't want, just please reply with an answer! I'm dying! Thanks a bunch!

This is dawg, ciao!
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From Akbar:

Hello Dawg,

I'm sorry you have spent so much time on your face parts only to have them turned down. Especially since face parts just like the ones you've drawn have been accepted in the past. I have tried to explain what bodies should look like through the emails I send out. I know it may be hard to understand what I mean, especially when you see face parts in Whyville that don't follow my rules. Let me explain why you may be seeing tall bodies at Verve's store, and all around Whyville, and why we cannot accept yours.

When Whyville first started, I used to accept all kinds of face parts. I even accepted taller bodies at that time. But some Whyvillians began using these face parts inappropriately. Since I was, and still am, concerned about what is best for all Whyvillians, I realized I had to set some ground rules. Most important of these, I now only accept bodies that show the neck and shoulder area.

In the past, face parts had no expiration date. So, face parts that I accepted before these new rules are still seen all over Whyville. Since they never expired, they are being used over and over again. Now, though, all face parts have expiration dates. Eventually the tall bodies that you see in Verve's store will expire, too. If Verve wants to make new bodies, they will have to follow the rule of "neck and shoulders only".

It will take a while for all old parts to expire, but you will start seeing less unacceptable body parts as the days go by. When all of Whyville's old face parts expire you will no longer see tall bodies anywhere in Whyville.

Thank you, Dawg, for writing to me with your concerns, and giving me the chance to explain what's going on. I hope that this has been helpful to you and please write again if you have any more questions about how Akbar's Face Factory works.

Remember, you can always ask a City Worker about face parts, and often you can find other Whyvillians who are willing to help.

Akbar