Let The Jokes Begin!

Welcome to Tuesday, July 22, 2008. One last blog on the new look. Since we were out of town Sunday, my fellow family members at our local Church have not seen me yet, therefore, I will have no doubt more of the same as we move forward. But I knew I was going to be in for it here at the workplace. The first five people who saw my new ‘bald’ look had some pretty dramatic responses. The first was from the owner of our company who said he both liked it and thought it made me look younger. I do appreciate this man! The next four greetings were gasps of surprise, two ‘wows!’, one ‘whoa!’, and one ‘oh my goodness!’ At least they noticed. I’ve always had ears that stick out. That’s set at birth. As one grows older ears grow slowly, but they do grow. There’s a lot out on the web discussing whether ears on older people look bigger or perhaps they become bigger because of growth coupled to changes in the head shape.

I said something about my ears to my youngest son who had seen the first photos and he said that they are no doubt easier to recognize now than they were before. I can live with that assessment because that’s a nice way of saying, “Hey, man, your ears sure do stick out!” There is a surgery they do to improve this situation and one researcher found that in Europe, the Irish have this type of surgery more than any others. They theorize that the English historically have looked down on the Irish as being of low class with one of the prominent features being a trait of having ears that stick out. They believe the Irish have turned more frequently to this type of surgery in order to have an appearance that would make them more acceptable within society as a whole. Don’t laugh. We all want to be accepted!

Of course there are plenty of bald jokes all around. There is one that says it’s not a bald head, it is really a solar panel for a macho man. Another says it is a ski slope for flies. Some of the advantages are the fact that you no longer are susceptible to dandruff, head lice, and would not be a target for a bat to become entangled in your hair. One survey I read said that over 3,000 women rated their marriages as being better and one of the correlating factors seemed to connect bald husbands to this statistic. There are those mystical beliefs that indicate the bald head as a sign of intelligence and wisdom. Also some Orientals hold that big ears are a sign of wisdom and long life. My wife commented that if this is true I should be very intelligent and live a very long time! Now you tell me, is that a compliment or a put down?

I did see my mom on Sunday and she liked the new me much better in person. I had made the photos I sent out by holding the camera in front of my face and the flash washed it out quite a bit. When I first talked to her after she saw the photograph, she, being honest, and my mom, said this: “Son, I do hope you don’t think that it makes you look better.” I can easily handle this critique because it’s from my 84-year-old mom. I talked to her last night and she had one final comment from our day together, “You also need to do something about that slump, hold your shoulders up and back!” Moms never quit being moms and I am so thankful for mine! Have a great rest of the week and may God bless! Amen. …….More later.