Haircuts

Over the weekend, I had the honor of shaving my boyfriend's head. Apparently, he was fed up with the annoying rituals of hair maintenance and the seemingly futile daily application of Rogaine. He says he'd always vowed when he was younger, that if he lost his hair, he'd shave his head. We discussed the pros and cons of that, meaning he just asked me, "Should I shave my head?" over and over again until finally he answered himself: yes.

Up until this weekend, I'd always thought shaving a head was a simple process—You set your buzzer to the shortest setting, make a few quick passes, and you're done! Not so! I got hair tangled in the blades, missed spots, had to find novel ways of working around ears, went back to fix the spots I'd missed, fixed more spots I'd missed, fixed more spots I'd missed, and finally learned what a laborious process it is to shave a head. Oh, and yesterday I found there was still a spot I missed.

After all this, he asked me if I liked his new style. But here's the thing! I never like a haircut when it's new. I feel like it changes a person's appearance so drastically, they are an entirely different person. It takes me time to reconcile the personality that I know with the appearance that I don't. So I never make judgment on a haircut until at least a few days have gone by. When he asks me again tomorrow, I'll have an answer, but let's face it. There is really only one right answer to this question.