Friday, May 29, 2009

Old

When I was a kid I had hair down to my shoulders and a full beard. My wardrobe was mostly tee shirts and jeans. My college graduation picture was not on the "picture wall" at my parents' house - they stuck with the high school shot with the short hair.

My and my middle brother's grooming and attire (he's three years younger), drove my father nuts. Then, we got out of school and had to get jobs. Off with the hair and jeans and we've conformed ever since.

I have "father" moments on occasion these days, shaking my head when I see rings not on ears or fingers, guys in pants the legs of which come up to about their knees, the waist of which rides just below their crotch and tattoos everywhere.

But, you don't see the look, for the most part, once they hit their late twenties and reality intervenes. I wonder what they'll shake their heads at in few decades.

8 comments:

Anonymous said...

There was a time in my life when I, too, had short hair and wore suits. But it turned out to just be a phase.

"Ah, but I was so much older then; I'm younger than that now…"

Wes said...

Though I wear jeans out and about often, I don't wear them to work.

And I've always had very short hair - heck, I've had the same hair pretty much since I was 12.

I guess I'm taking the advice of Robert Frost, who memorably said "I never dared to be radical when young/For fear it would make me conservative when old." ("Ten Mills," 1936)

WF

Dave said...

I've really missed my chance at long hair. Were I to give it a shot, I'd be one of those guys with hair covering the back of his head and his neck and his shoulders, missing the important part on top.

I did the radical, for me and my millue (sp?) anyway, but I've not succumbed to conservative.

Kvatch said...

Even when I had a job that required a suit as my daily attire, I had hair down to my shoulders (pulled it back into a ponytail for those meetings where I had to talk to other 'suits').

I find now that hair is just a nuisance. My only regret is that I'm one of those guys for which facial hair is just not going to happen. Would have like to try a beard just once, but the Frogette going, "Raggy, relp me!" all the time makes that sort of impossible.

dr sardonicus said...

Same thing happened to me. I cut my hair when I was 25, and suddenly I was no longer unemployable.

Wendy said...

Ah, I just saw my 20 year old nephew for the first time in several years. He is going through the I don't like college, want to be a rich partying playboy who sleeps all day and plays all night faze or should I say DAZE. His hair looks like it has not been cut, or combed for that matter in about 3 mnths. His mom spends 1/2 the year in Europe and 1/2 the year in the states. Since she left last week he has decided not to shave any more. Wow never have I felt so old as when I wanted to tell him to get a hair cut!

Dave said...

I knew Thomas would have something to say. As to the rest of us, exactly.

fermicat said...

I keep waiting for that baggy pants trend to peter out but it has maddening resilience.