Going Grey

A few weeks ago, after just getting home from a step class and going to the bathroom to take a shower, I saw three incredibly long grey hairs I had not seen before coming out of my head. My hair was in a ponytail, which it only ever is when I'm exercising, and I guess the way I had pulled my hair back that day exposed these long lost greys. Normally, I monitor (and regularly try to cut) my grey hairs, so seeing those new ones, which by their length had obviously been there for a long time, was a bit shocking. I think I noticed my first grey hair when I was maybe 22 or 23. I can't remember exactly but I do know that the fall I was 24 is when I noticed I had more than one. Mine are also almost white, definitely more white than grey, which is a bit odd. I still call them grey hairs though just because it seems even weirder to have white hair.

The only friend I ever really talk about grey hair with is J. She also has long grey hairs which she dislikes and cuts. According to J., there is a link between not drinking milk and having grey hair. I hate milk and never drink it. She doesn't like it either. Maybe the study she read is true.

At one point, I would love it if I could just sit in a chair and someone would go through my hair, find all the grey hairs and cut them out. I wanted J. to do this when I visited her in Buenos Aires last year but I never ended up asking as it seemed a bit of an odd request. I'm not great with scissors and cutting though and often I cut out a bunch of regular brown hairs when trying to cut the one grey (or white) one. I need to find someone willing to do this for me :)

I still distinctly remember when A. told me that Taylor Hicks (see picture below) who had just won American Idol (this was back in 2006) was not in fact in his 40s, but was only 29. I didn't watch American Idol and therefore had only ever seen pictures of Hicks and had not really seen or considered his face up close. Discovering that he was 29 and not 45 was both surprising, and brought home for me the horrors of going prematurely grey. I read an article sometime recently on the Huff Po's Style page about grey hair now being popular in the fashion world. I really don't get it. Why would you want to go grey before your time voluntarily? I guess it is cool that some people, like Taylor Hicks, just own their grey-hairness. I, however, do not think I could be one of them.

Two people at the law school, both as far as I know in their 20s or max early 30s, have patches of exclusively grey hair while the rest of their heads have normal brown or blond (as the case may be) hair. I know it's mean to dislike features of other people's personal appearances in general, and features over which they have no control, in particular, but I really dislike grey patches. I really hope I never get one. If I did, I know I would have to dye it, which is something I would not want to do as I have always prided myself on never having dyed my hair, not even as a 13 year old when it seemed all my friends wanted to try having purple (or plum as the package called it) or red hair. Even amidst those exciting options I wasn't tempted. I have always liked my dark brown hair. In addition to worrying about a grey patch, I also just really hope that I won't go prematurely grey, or even just have enough grey hairs such that they are very noticeable and hence won't look good, and have to start dying it now! I guess one day if I had a lot of greys and they were very noticeable I would consider dying my hair.

But for now, my grey hair volume has held steady, with maybe a slight increase, for the past three and a half years. This is great and means I won't have to start drinking milk anytime soon.