My hair is gray, but I don’t consider it a badge of honor or any kind of social statement. Its just gray.
Once upon a time my hair was a social statement. I was raised in the army (Canadian). No hair on your head was allowed to be more than a quarter-inch long. In those days, you could always spot the army brats because of the lack of hair. Nowadays, they just look like skinheads.
When I finally left home I became a non-conformist and wore my hair long, just like all the other radical individualists. For almost fifteen years, my hair flopped and blew in the breeze. Getting a professional haircut required a trip into town. To get a really good one required a trip to the mainland, and when we did get off-island there were usually a lot more exciting things to do than get a haircut.
The residue of this life experience is that, to this day, my hair is usually too long. And it’s gray.
Mainly, fussing with my hair is just not something I do. If it wasn’t so much trouble I might have tried dyeing it, but then I would have to monitor and maintain it. Way too much trouble.
I must confess that a few years ago, I had a brief experiment with Grecian Formula. Why, I don’t recall. My only memory of it is that the foam burned my scalp and it needed to be done every day. Can that!
Once in a very long while, I do get tempted to try some of the temporary hair color the kids use. This would just be for a day or two, and just for fun. Then shampoo it out and go back to the natural gray. I would probably choose a brown or black color, but if I was going to a young party or a concert I might consider something in a fluorescent flavor. Go big or go home!! But that would be just for play.
Here’s the biggest, secret reason for my having gray hair, though. My lady loves it! For years she wanted a gray-haired guy. Now she has one. That makes her smile. Am I going to mess with that?
Glenn is the author of Life Around 60 where he muses about turning 60 in October.
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