The Mane Event

It took all the courage I could muster to enter my office building today.   I arrived at work well before dawn after braving the icy back roads, remnants of the weekend’s snowfall.  I chose the lower basement level of the dimly lit parking garage, using the tunnel that would keep me out of the elements and buy me a little time before I encountered any of my co-workers.  I swiped my badge and made a beeline for the bathroom, just to see if everything was OK before I entered the main corridors.  They would notice immediately and I wanted to be prepared.

I had Christmas gifts for the grandson of my closest work friend.   She’s not in my department so it’s a fairly safe place to start this morning.  If it didn’t go well I might have time to do something about it.   What a relief to see a broad smile appear on her face and have her tell me it looked great. 

For the last 10 years, which is forever to everyone at work, I have had the same hair style.  To make it worse, I’ve had the same style since I was 18 although the 80’s wings became a bit softer, the wavy blond locks a little less bright and the length varied from shoulders to mid back -all with the help of blow driers, curlers and hot air curling wands.   Today I have a flat iron.  Today, it was pin straight, parted on the side and I have bangs.   They are the sort of bangs that start on the left and merge into the layers on the right, across the forehead just a bit, with some wispy pieces filling out the middle. 

I grabbed another person in her department and began taking a poll:  Flat or Fluffy? 

Pretty soon this was Big News around our buildings and people were approaching me in the cafeteria to get a peek and place their vote.  So far all votes are for Flat with one abstention because he finds himself in trouble when he comments on female hairstyles! 

When I find something I like I tend to hang onto it and stay in my comfort zone.  It is that comfort zone that I have set out to break over the last year during my journey to rediscover the old ways.   So it’s goodbye 80’s with that wonderful big hair and hello to a more simplified look which requires fewer appliances to get there.