I’m no stranger to fake hair. I’ve had blonde hair, platinum hair (ouch!), red hair and tangerine hair (oops). Trying to hide all my gray hairs was hard work. But recently - thanks to my barber Shelly - I’m no longer captive to color. I’m wearing it tight and color-free.
When Shelly first committed The Cut and suggested not coloring it, I was astonished. It was so short…and so gray. But I took her advice. For two weeks, I avoided mirrors and walking past large shop windows. I was embarassed by my reflection, and nervous about seeing friends and clients for the first time since The Cut.
But over time I got comfortable with it…and with myself. It feels good to be real.
So imagine my pity when I saw this guy at an airport last month:
When he bent over to take his shoes off before going through airport security, several strips of his combover fell out of place. He quickly pulled a comb from his back pocket and smoothed the errant strips back into place. I wondered, “How many times each day does he have to comb his combover?” All that wasted time. And energy. Is it possible that he believes that people don’t know he’s bald?
Combovers - like coloring our hair - are physical coverups for features (baldness, grayness, etc.) we wish we didn’t have. I wonder what would happen if we stopped covering up and started getting real? I predict:
- More would get done;
- Better planning would take place;
- We’d live and work in better, more humane places; and
- There’d be more “Bald is Beautiful” bumper stickers.
Maybe even The Donald would drop the lame-ass combover.
What about you? What are you covering up? What would it be like to drop those pretenses and start living life…for real?
More: Watch a trailer for Combover: The Movie.
