This week, as I’ve been going through past photos I’ve used in TIE O’ THE DAY, I found this gem. I adore this bigly jumbo butterfly Bow Tie o’ the Day. I selfied this picture right after my last haircut, last May. Oh, how I long for a cut like this again. Just seeing it makes me all weepy. In case I haven’t made it clear a bazillion times, I cannot wait to get my hairs back to the way I want them again. The end of May can’t come quickly enough for me. Seriously, wasn’t this a nice style? Doesn’t it look more like my kind o’ hairdo? And you must admit the ‘do is flattering to my old face. The secret to any hairdo which appeals to me is that it be more like a hairs-not-do than a hairdo. I’m a wash-and-go girl. Always have been, always will be.
When I was in high school, some chick decided she had been anointed to bully me about my daily lack of effort to make my hair into an official ‘do, as well as my refusal to wear make-up. She did it every dang day. Well, I was up to my top nerve about her harping, and so I cogitated about what I I could say to shut this girl up. I did some figuring one evening at my desk in my bedroom, and I was ready for the barrage of torment from her which I knew would be coming at me the next day. I let her do her mean routine.
Finally, I said, ” We are 15, and our life expectancy is 70 more years. If it takes you an hour per day to do your hair and make-up, in your lifetime you will spend 25,550 hours doing your hair and make-up. That equals 1061.6 days, which equals 2.9 years– spent solely on hair and a face. I, on the other hand, will be spending that same amount of time doing cartwheels; vacationing on beaches; going to plays and concerts; reading; writing; wearing bow ties; playing quarterback for the Seattle Seahawks; being a rodeo clown; and counting my millions. I choose to use that same amount of time doing whatever the heck I want to– while wearing my own naked face and a simple, wash-and-go haircut.”
She never bothered me about it again, nor did her chorus of friends who had egged her on in bugging me. They became my pals, and still are. The lesson of this post is this: If you just be you, people will respect you. They will know exactly who you are and the principles you stand for. And if you ever find yourself in need of it, they will stand up for you.