Suddenly, it seems women with super-short hair are everywhere. Yesterday, I found myself on the same shopping trajectory with a lovely African-American older woman at the grocery store.
As we ran into each other aisle after aisle, I had the chance to take a good long look at my future from numerous angles. On her, the shaved head was striking. I can only hope to be so lucky.
I struggled with the appropriateness of asking a stranger why she chose such a look. Was she a St. Baldrick's participant as well? Dealing with an illness? Or simply enjoying a summer of freedom from haircare?
My secret fear? That people won't ask. That the wrong assumptions could be damaging to business, or that acquaintances will form their own erroneous conclusions without having all the facts.
If I were ill, I think I'd want people to ask. Not strangers in the supermarket, because that's just being nosy, but certainly people who know me. I'd like to think that I'd need and welcome their sincere support, without hairlessness being the big bald elephant in the room.
But since I'm making this sacrifice by choice rather than necessity, of course I'm hoping that everyone who wants to know "Why?" will ask when they see me. Hopefully they'll have their checkbook in hand by the time I'm done answering :)
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