Thursday, March 12, 2009
I’m a picker. When I get nervous, my hand heads straight for my beard. Before I know it, I’ve unknowingly picked a nice little patch of my facial hair (usually in the chin area). I then feel the need to grow my beard to a slightly hobo-esque length so I can have a mini comb over to cover the bald spot.
My choice to have facial hair affects more than just my anxious habits, though:
Keepin’ it friendly
I’m the go-to guy for facial hair comparison among my friends. About half of my guy friends can grow only wisps-in-the-wind, and the others are patchy at best. For a small number who occasionally have and can grow full facial hair, it’s out of sheer laziness and not because they necessarily want the facial decoration.
The lesser hair-endowed friends do sporadically, yet adamantly, badger me to shave it. They don’t get that the beard is a part of who I am—a facial tattoo if you will. It’s my choice to adorn the look. It started as a way to save some dough and to save some time during my morning routine, but now it’s a part of me.
Bargain grooming
Those Gillette and Schick razors with an unreasonable number of blades were getting a tad pricey for my budget. I resorted to eventually using the much cheaper one-time-use blades for awhile, but eco-guilt took over from throwing away so much plastic.
I’ve gone through three beard trimmers in my two years of beardom. Luckily, Wal-Mart has a lenient return policy, so when one hits the bathroom floor, a replacement is just waiting for me on the shelf. All in all, I’ve spent about $20 on my facial hair needs in the past two years. Maybe once I start making the big bucks I’ll go back to the blades.
On the job
I’m on the job hunt, and I’m constantly hearing that clean shavin’ is the way to be. When I do trim up my beard to a respectable length, though, I think I look pretty snazzy. After all, unless a future employer has strict grooming guidelines, I’ll be sporting my facial hair on the job, so I might as well break it to them in the interview.
It can start to look a tad unprofessional, I’ll admit, after about a week and a half of letting it flourish. Once a 9-to-5 job falls into my lap, I’ll be more of a stickler about my facial hair grooming. But at this time in my life, more than just coworkers see (and actually appreciate) my fuzzy mug.
In the bedroom
Luckily, the significant others I’ve had since I’ve had my facial hair enjoyed my beard almost as much as I’ve enjoyed not shaving it. They’ve not only enjoyed it, they’ve preferred it. When I do shave my facial hair, my 5 o’clock shadow shows up at about noon, and even butterfly kisses become painful for my significant others.
I know facial hair is absent in my mug shot. It was taken when I was just starting to establish some great friendships, nonchalantly shelling out cash, working a mind-numbingly boring job, and dating no one. Let’s just say life is much better now.
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