February 16, 2007
My friend Joel and I have absolutely no problem telling each other like it is.
We lay it on the line no matter what we are talking about, from our girth to our clothes to our taste in television shows. The more honest we are, the harsher the words. Now that’s friendship.
That’s why I wasn’t too stunned the other day when during a conversation Joel paused, focused his eyes on my head and said, “Man, you are getting gray.”
He continued, “I didn’t notice this before. It’s like in the last week or so you have gotten really gray.”
At nearly age 45, I may have lost a lot of hair, but I was never gray. Until now, that is. No big deal.
I got my hair cut today. With my glasses off, I can’t see a thing. But I can see colors.
What used to be amber clippings raining down in front of my face from the cutting above was now mixed with sprinklings of gray.
I mentioned to my barber Joel’s comment about my hair turning gray. Unlike Joel, my barber, a tattooed wizard with the shears, was kind.
“The gentleman in my chair before you had a head of gray hair,” he said. “I’m sure it’s just his hair you are seeing.”
I was already calculating a big tip.
“I know it’s all mine,” I said. “At least I have come to terms with it, and my thinning hair. No combover for me.”
For the next several minutes my barber told me some wild stories of the magic he’s performed on some guys who part their hair just above their left ear, swirl their long stringy strands on the cue ball above and then paste what’s left on the right side of their head.
In baseball parlance, I call the hairdo a “third-to-first.”
“No one asks me to leave their combover alone, it’s just implied,” my barber said. “So I just carefully trim the edges on the other side of the part.”
“Poor guys,” I thought to myself.
Or, if I were talking to Joel, I’d say, “You’re bald, dude, so deal with it.”
Boomer Girls, don’t let your man do a “third-to-first.” Encourage him to embrace his graying baldness. Suggest he get his hair cut shorter, a la Matt Lauer, or Sting.
My barber and I would thank you for it.
Comments
amazonratz (anonymous) says...
There's nothing worse than the dreaded combover, especially when a sudden wind catches it and lifts it like a lid....! Bald is beautiful, man.
February 21, 2007 at 3:58 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
rvonknorring (Ronna vonKnorring) says...
When I first met my man he had the beginnings of a comb over. He had lost a lot on top in his early twenties. By 49 he didn't have much left up there. He would comb a very thin layer across the top. First we "trimmed it short" (didn't like the fly aways). At he next barber shop appointment we shaved the top bit of fuzz off. Within a month we shaved the whole head and have never looked back!
February 21, 2007 at 5:49 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
Post a comment
Commenting requires registration.