A little gray matter, and I’m not talking brains

 

 

This all began a couple days ago, on Friday.  I was at the office, plugging away, when Linda (a coworker) walked past and remarked that she was surprised at how gray my hair was, and said (with a wink) “don’t let this place age you!”   I knew my hair was showing it’s age, but was still surprised when I fished a small mirror out of my desk & saw my noggin under those florescent lights—where the hell did all that gray on top come from?!  

The lighting there is a lot brighter than my bathroom mirror at home, but I wasn’t expecting such a drastic change at work.  I made a mental note to stop at CVS on my way home & pick up some ‘stuff’.  It had been over three months since my last dye job, I knew I was overdue.

I confess—a little over eighteen months ago, I began noticing a graying at the temples.   I hated it, it reminded me of Ward Cleaver from ‘Leave it to Beaver’.  I worried that if left untreated, I’d look like Paulie from the Sopranos, with those big white wings on the sides of my head!   So after doing some exploring at the drugstore, I thanked God I was a man (I’m sure you’ve seen the endless rows of women’s hair color) and basically had three colors to choose from--light, medium or dark brown.  I began touching up my temples, usually once every other month.

I kept up the practice for awhile, and when the gray began creeping upward, I simply poured the concoction over my entire head. I never had a bad experience with the stuff, and in fact was always surprised at how nicely it turned out.  It made me feel like ‘my old self’ to have a head of dark hair again.   And when the silver started making its way back faster, I switched from 8 weeks, to six, to once a month.

When I informed my barber what I was doing, he said “You won’t keep that up forever, it gets old fast.”   Nope, I thought—I’m no Richard Gere or George Clooney, I won’t get better looking with gray hair.

 

July 2010, about 2 weeks after my last dye job; those sides are stubborn!   A lot has changed since this too

 

Anyway, my barber was right; I picked up a box of Just for Men on Friday, but it’s been sitting on my kitchen sink ever since.  I feel like I’m fighting a losing battle, and I’m wondering if it’s a good time to throw in the towel (the one stained with Medium Brown hair color) & admit defeat.  I recently read a quote that struck home:  “Forty is the old age of youth, and fifty is the youth of old age.”  Well, I’ve got another year to go before I hit that fiftieth milestone, and if I’m not going to act my age, the least I can do is stop hiding from it.

1980… it was a very good year.  For hair, at least!