A Hair’s Breadth
How much time do we spend thinking about hair… quite a bit actually? When we wake we shower and look in the mirror then we comb or brush it into place. If our hair is thinning or too long, we worry and make plans to have it cut or sometimes think about having hair replaced if its thinning and expanding into baldness. Some men, tired of it all, shave their heads, but even then they aren’t free from hair. Every few days some of the hair begins to sprout and the razor comes out again.
Speaking about a razor, men have to deal with facial hair as well as some women. (Yes women, even you, and don’t say no.) Again, the mirror helps men to trim, shape, or completely scrape off those coarse bristles. Full beards are the exception. Women use the mirror and a pair of tweezers to pluck random growths when they emerge.
Women chase away unwanted hairs on legs, armpits, and private areas using razors, waxes, or depilatories. They subject themselves to pain, scraping, and irritation to look smooth and sleek. Now, men other than the body builders who normally remove body hair to highlight their muscles are following suit, stripping their bodies of the “unnecessary” fur.
The thing that made me think about hair was my childhood neighbor. He was an older man and harrumphed in his throat quite a bit. Thin almost to the point of emaciation, he would sit on the front porch and watch the yard as we ran and played. Tired, we often sat on his porch steps and talked yo him. I was fascinated with the crop of hair that protruded from his ears. A thick thatch of coarse hair, like flowers in a vase, stuck out from his ears. I didn’t understand how he could still hear with such a forest growing there. I always said to myself, “I won’t allow mine to get that thick,” and now have a problem, frequently having to trim or pluck before my ear canal fills.
Manufacturers have made all kinds of potions and treatments to get rid of hair, clean and volumize hair, for dry hair or to grow hair. It depends on the person’s need. There are also products to curl, straighten, or to color hair. If you have graying hair, even beards, the products try to make you look young again adding color where color has fled in its old age. They make combs and brushes of all shapes and sizes for your convenience or needs. They play on our vanities and make products to entice and seduce people into trying to buy back our youth.