Thoughts About Shaving My Head

[zzaapp]

Tim,

Are you in San Francisco?

No - Chicago

There is one thing you will need to get before late October...   ...a parka with a hood attached.  Take it from someone who has braved many a Chicago winter.  Hats are OK, but they tend to get left sitting somewhere, or not taken when it seems warm in the morning, and the wind blows in from Iowa during the day. 

It is very convenient to be able to walk into a warm place and just flip the hood back, and not have to worry about keeping track of a hat until you go outside again.  It's always there for you.

And we're here for you.  I changed my work a few years ago, going from an office to a field service job (same company (Chicago northshore based) different location).  I really enjoy the change.  I hope you do too.

[Timbo1941]

Great post. Thanks. It sounds like you have doen a lot of what I plan to do. I have followed the same path all my life and I am the only one who can change it. I was going to get a buzzcut first - but decided to go from full head of hair to bald and get it done.

Glad to know you have a date for your headshave.  As many have said you will not regret it. 

You brought up some interesting questions and those have gotten some great replies.  One made me stop and think, how long did I think about shaving off my hair before doing it ... for me well over 20 years.  Now 13 years of shaving later all I can think is how I wished I hadn't wasted all those years wanting to be bald when I could have been!

.................................PS  I have a college degree and over 100 hours of graduate study with a Masters.  It was great to move out of the "stiff white collar" world for me.  Even though I decided to come back into 7 years later, I am a far better person, far kinder, and far more understanding because of those 7 years of manual work.  It brought down many barriers between me and those I deal with everyday in my present job and has given me a totally new prospective on life.  Of course shaving my head helped so much as well!  Good Luck!

[Timbo1941]

Thanks - I hadn't thought of that!  I never wore hats before except on the sub zero days in Chicago. So the hooded parka and a sweatshirt too are on my list. I know I will be outdoors a lot more just at the job itself.

Tim,

Are you in San Francisco?

No - Chicago

There is one thing you will need to get before late October...   ...a parka with a hood attached.  Take it from someone who has braved many a Chicago winter.  Hats are OK, but they tend to get left sitting somewhere, or not taken when it seems warm in the morning, and the wind blows in from Iowa during the day. 

It is very convenient to be able to walk into a warm place and just flip the hood back, and not have to worry about keeping track of a hat until you go outside again.  It's always there for you.

And we're here for you.  I changed my work a few years ago, going from an office to a field service job (same company (Chicago northshore based) different location).  I really enjoy the change.  I hope you do too.

[tomgallagher]

Chicago in the winter...you will definitely need something with a hood.

[mangosink12572]

Ha! That's another reason: I'll be going from a job where an expensive haircut was part of the uniform and an asset, to a job where no one will care and it will serve no purpose. But I'll be learning a lot about going from white to blue collar!

I went from V P of a bank to owning a liquor and wine store   - - - - -so I went from white to blue real fast and am I glad I did so - -being BALD makes no difference  - -it helps in sales  - - -the women love it and like to feel the bald dome  and there are many bald  guys who come  in because there are three of us who are BALD    -    - -I have two young bald guys in their early 30's (part time) and we all do more kidding about being bald  - -it is great being SLY BALD    GO FOR IT

[Timbo1941]

A bank VP - so you really understand from the inside.  A part of this decision for me is a practical adjustment to working in a garage. It isn't going to make any sense to show up for work and take an engine apart with carefully combed gelled hair. This way I don't have to worry about it and save money. 

Did you go from white to blue collar at the same time that you shaved off your hair?

Ha! That's another reason: I'll be going from a job where an expensive haircut was part of the uniform and an asset, to a job where no one will care and it will serve no purpose. But I'll be learning a lot about going from white to blue collar!

I went from V P of a bank to owning a liquor and wine store   - - - - -so I went from white to blue real fast and am I glad I did so - -being BALD makes no difference  - -it helps in sales  - - -the women love it and like to feel the bald dome  and there are many bald  guys who come  in because there are three of us who are BALD    -    - -I have two young bald guys in their early 30's (part time) and we all do more kidding about being bald  - -it is great being SLY BALD    GO FOR IT

[baldntat05]

The only regret I had was not going straight from the business cut to slick bald.  It took me about a year to work down to it through the various buzzes.  What I really wanted to do all along was to walk into the barbershop and tell the barber to shave it off slick bald.  Wish I had done it when I was 16 instead of waiting until 38!   Go straight for the slick, no looking back.

[Timbo1941]

That's what I'll be doing - going from the business cut to slick bald.  I suggested to the barber that I do it in stages - but he was the one who said: "If you're going to do it, do it right". He called my current haircut 'standard suit' because that is what almost all of the men in the building ask for. He suggested a total head shave is better than a slow change. And that is what i am looking for: a total change.

The only regret I had was not going straight from the business cut to slick bald.  It took me about a year to work down to it through the various buzzes.  What I really wanted to do all along was to walk into the barbershop and tell the barber to shave it off slick bald.  Wish I had done it when I was 16 instead of waiting until 38!   Go straight for the slick, no looking back.

[baldntat05]

Make sure you are facing the mirror so you can see the change!

[Timbo1941]

My barber will take care of that. 

He said he wanted to see my face when the hair comes off. I think he is enjoying this - when I told him about becoming a mechanic, he was the one who said "So you finally got a real job! Now you'll know what it means to work every day!"

After all these years of calling me 'sir,  he tells me what he really thinks of bankers! 

Make sure you are facing the mirror so you can see the change!

[baldntat05]

Shaving your head seems to be a great equalizer.  I guess it removes any false images taking you right down to bare nothing.  But oh what a bare nothing it is.  Maybe we should start a count down for you.   4 more days until the new you is born!

[Timbo1941]

I saw him today and he said something along those lines: "Just a few more days and you'll be coming  down off your high horse?" He was joking but I think he meant it too. I had not thought of myself as being on a 'high horse'...

It will mean being taken down to the bare nothing. I realy see that now. I hope I deal with it well!

Shaving your head seems to be a great equalizer.  I guess it removes any false images taking you right down to bare nothing.  But oh what a bare nothing it is.  Maybe we should start a count down for you.   4 more days until the new you is born!

[Nonick]

Timbo, I'm concerned that you are somewhat equating shaved bald heads with blue collar work.  That is the farthest thing from the truth.  If you are going to shave your head, make sure you do it because you want the change, and don't equate it with being a mechanic.  The two are mutually exclusive.  I've known many mechanics with a full head of hair.

OK, if you're coinciding your new look with a new career, that's fine, if you're up to it.  Many guys don't do both head shave and career change at the same time.  It could be a bit...tramatic.  All the more reason to do it before you leave the VP world.  

Also, if you think shaving your head while still working your current job might burn a job bridge if you decide to go back; rethink this one too.  If you did a gradual trim down to shaved head, most people wouldn't notice, or really care much.

I'm all for you shaving; I just want you to be sure you're wanting the change and doing it, such that you won't regret anything.

[D.A.L.U.I.]

Timbo, I'm concerned that you are somewhat equating shaved bald heads with blue collar work.  That is the farthest thing from the truth.  If you are going to shave your head, make sure you do it because you want the change, and don't equate it with being a mechanic.  The two are mutually exclusive.  I've known many mechanics with a full head of hair.

OK, if you're coinciding your new look with a new career, that's fine, if you're up to it.  Many guys don't do both head shave and career change at the same time.  It could be a bit...tramatic.  All the more reason to do it before you leave the VP world.  

Also, if you think shaving your head while still working your current job might burn a job bridge if you decide to go back; rethink this one too.  If you did a gradual trim down to shaved head, most people wouldn't notice, or really care much.

I'm all for you shaving; I just want you to be sure you're wanting the change and doing it, such that you won't regret anything.

Excellent Post, thanks for putting that out there.  Many of us who have careers that might be stereotyped as "conservative" even stogy have found that our shaved heads don't cause any issues at all and that we have lots, and I do mean lots of company as sly.  I can say that I rarely if ever go through a day as a lawyer in a high rise office building with other law firms, business, accountants and yes the offices of a major bank without seeing numerous other sly guys, not just one or two.  Sly isn't defined by a class conscious view of the world, it's a response to a genetic predisposition--nothing more.  But, even in my job, I find that knowing lots of people from every walk of life makes life more interesting.  But it's nice that others have found the freedom of sly, and that IMO is the big thing with Sly--FREEDOM.

[Rob]

very true: SLY looks great dressed up or in casual, and nothing better than a SLY with a suit and tie!