Tuesday, February 22, 2011

HAIR

Last week, I went to lunch with a friend that I hadn't seen in years. It was one of those lunches that makes you feel like time stood still .. you know reminiscing about stuff, telling lies ... laughing. I felt like I was 20 again ... until I heard, "Hey, Momberg ... been growing your forehead since I saw you?"

Reality hit: What happened to my hair?

It used to be on the top of my head (and the sides and back too). It was long ... it was dark ... it was ... the 70s.

And I had a moustache. A big bushy Groucho Marx moustache which took up most of my face (the glasses took up the rest).

Hair, the musical, had just come out. So us 20- somethings wanted HAIR ... Long beautiful hair ... Shining, gleaming, streaming, flaxen, waxen.

Ah yes.

Hair is a funny thing. We really care about it.

When you're a baby, you really don't know if you have any or not ... but your parents do. If you are a girl and bald, count on having a bow stapled to your head. If you're a bald headed boy, your dad will buy you mini baseball caps.

When you're pre-adolescent, you can probably remember the day that you first saw it grow under your arms and down South. For a boy, this was a sign of manhood ... well ... pre-manhood ... your voice changed later but at least you had your HAIR.

As we grow into adults we color it, spike it, tease it, perm it, shave it ... we'd probably tweet it if we could.

And then we get old.

Not only do we LOSE it ... it travels to places that we never thought hair could even grow. The ultimate insult.

So while you have it ... nurture it and look at it every day. Because one day ... someone might just say to you ... "Can you put on a hat? The glare hurts my eyes" or "I've seen more hair on a billiard ball."




... or my favorite ... "Maybe you should just let your eyebrows grow long and comb them back!"

2 comments:

Bobby Allan said...

You looked like you could have been a motorcycle cop riding beside Ponch and Jon on CHIPS.

joel said...

@Chrissy ... Funny, I spent time with motorcycle cops but not on TV.

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