@maxdancona,
I liked the first part of your answer. The last part was so funny. It took me by surprise, and cracked me up. lol
Hi, @guyg1 I can well understand your being self, and I know it takes real effort to accept things as they are.
Something I learned, is that we are more concerned about our appearance than other people are. True, they are the obnoxious people who try to make us feel bad about ourselves, but if we ignore them, we will quickly realize that people are more interested in who we are, on the inside.
I knew a 17 year old, whose head of hair, was nearly completely white. Mind you, he wore an afro. He didn't seem to mind, and was always friendly and smiling.
I liked him a lot... for his personality. He was my friend.
I would encourage you to not focus on your hair. It will affect your potential in other areas, which you would do better to focus on.
As for dying your hair, I have heard its not a good idea, because it looks worst later in life. Not to mention, you need to spend money keeping it that shade, because it fades, and the UV rays don't seem to be friendly to those chemicals.
So my advice... Feel good about yourself and focus on others.
All the best.