Reactions

I missed a few days of blogging. Did you notice? Nothing serious, I just got a new laptop and my "computer guy" was transferring files from the old to the new laptop so I can take the new one with me when Chris and I leave Saturday for the wild wild mid-west. That meant no computer access at home for a bit.

So now I've got two days of reactions to my going topless in public to share with you. (Yes, I mean "without headcovering" but I'm hoping for extra blog hits by weirdos online searching "topless." Not true at all.). You can see in the photo what my public self looks like now. I have hair, but I don't really think it looks like an intentional hairstyle yet. To me it still says "chemo happened here." Apparently that's not true to the public in general. I've had the following responses from folks who didn't know that chemo did indeed happen here but all of whom knew me "before":

1) (startled look) "Oh, I see you have your summer haircut." Because apparently I'm like a Lhasa Apso in that regard.

2) (brief look of surprise) "Oh, I really like your haircut." And, after I explained that it wasn't a "cut" so much as a growth she said "I would never have known. I think it looks great on you." (So you might guess this was my favorite response.) And then there was

3) (shocked look of tragic proportions) "Oh, you cut off all your beautiful blonde hair!!!"
Hey, thanks for the reminder!! [Help me out here. Would "Oh! You wrinkled all that beautiful young skin you had!" have been an appropriate response?] And then, after I explained that no, I did not "cut" the hair (and I believe I may be guilty of emphasizing that it fell out by the handful because of the CHEMO POISON I was underwent due to CANCER ), this person said, "Oh, right. I think I remember someone told me you had cancer. I just remember that you had such beautiful blonde hair, so this was shocking." Yeah, well, cancer can be like that. Oh, and I truly appreciate the empathy. Cow.

What have we learned here my precious readers? I'm thinking that a woman with a sudden alarming and really, really short haircut should be approached in the same manner as a woman who has suddenly gained a little weight. (In that "you shouldn't assume pregnant because she might just have gained weight" way). Maybe we did and maybe we didn't do this to ourselves.

What else have we learned? That some people have the tact of a drunken bear. I mean, what if I had in fact simply chosen to cut off all my hair? Where was #3 going to go from there?

Nonetheless, I'm getting rather used to the look. It's not my favorite and I won't be keeping it, but I find that if I just dress like a girl and throw on some jewelry (but not hoop earrings which still make me look like a pirate), and particularly "artsy" looking jewelry, I can almost fool myself that this is a "style."

You know, like a summer cut on a lhasa apso.