Without hesitation or the slightest reservation, he wrote "Hallelujah!"
The types of reactions to my haircut had been endlessly amusing. Especially in a culture that's trained to say "nice haircut,"I loved pushing the guys to obvious discomfort until they blurted out their true feelings about my hair style change.
When J first saw my newly chopped hair in the back of a dark taxi, he smiled really big and couldn't keep his hands off me. He had always had a thing for short hair.
Ben, another friend who hopped on the taxi with J, just stared, with his lower jaw hanging in disbelief. When I prattled on about how it was a sudden decision because I was tired of being stereotyped by my dark wavy hair and I had always wanted to try something new, he cut me short (so punny!) by patting me on the elbow slowly. He once had a girl friend who broke down emotionally after a really bad hair cut so he totally understood what I was going through.
Silence. The meter beeped. J tried to distance himself from that comment by physically shifting to the side of the taxi.
Then Ben attempted a recovery with a mumbled "but hey . . . nice haircut. It's going to grow back out, right?"
Even my boss's six year old little girl had a hard time pretending. When the elevator opened, she was waiting eagerly for me to babysit her. She had a polka dot hairband and a giant grin, which swiftly flopped downwards, when she focused on my hair. What happened to your hair? I cut it. Oh. Yeah. I didn't like mommy's either.
Oddly, it never hurt. For me, it was a small act of growing up, proactively chopping off what other people thought was me simply because I had never done anything else. It was a whim, a "someday I'll . . ." checked off. It made me look older, lending me more credibility with the clients when I pretentiously flipped my hair and said many, many years ago back in college, well you know how it was.
But I'm kind of ready for something new. Go shorter or longer?
2 comments:
i like this new background better :) as for your hair, you will always make it look good!
I'm at a similar crossroads! (Crazy how we still travel parallel roads - big or small - across continents, eh Sis?) I say either will be fun, but just cut it either way. If longer, a trim to help it grow out better (and honestly, to kill the boredom/ugly of growing hair out). If shorter, to be more daring than last time :) Life on your own terms, darling!
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