Never say never, part 2

[Razor X]

If someone had predicted to me years ago that in the future I'd be completely bald -- and happy about it -- I would never have believed it.  I remember one time when I was in high school, for some reason the topic of baldness came up.  The kid I was having the conversation with said that if he ever went bald in the future, he'd shave his head and "go Kojak".  This was back in the 80s, long before the BBC movement came along.  I remember thinking, "What, are you nuts?  Who would ever do that?"

I also remember a 60 Minutes interview with Yul Brynner from approximately the same time period -- not that long before he died.  They showed some footage of him shaving his head before going on stage.  Again, I remember thinking, "How could anyone do that to themselves?"  and at the same time, wondering what it would be like to do it.  Still, it never occurred to me that I would ever do it myself.

What about the rest of you?  When was the first time you ever thought about shaving your head?  Was it something someone suggested to you -- and what was your reaction?  Or was it your own idea -- and what how did others react when you told them what you were thinking of doing?

[JDog]

Razor you have mentioned 2 great BBC icons.


I'm with you, I never in a million years imagined that I would be bald by my own choice.

In previous posts I describe my desire to be bald was onset by my hatred for the trendy male haircuts I had been witnessing(the faux hawk,the emo combover)

[warhawk]

razorx.... great topic.... i'm sure we'll "hear" some gr8 stories.  4 me... i was thinking 'bout shaving my dome about 3 years, ago.  however... i was 2  scared 2 do it.  i was just curious how i would look but didn't have the cajones 2 do it.  matter of fact... i told my wife about it & she was like...."do it... i think u will look good".... and i was like.... "yeah, right".  anyways....since then.... my wife would bring the subject every so often about "when i'm gonna shave the head" but i would always b on the fence.  u  c  i  had a good amount of hair at the time but i slowly started getting thin each year.

 finally.... i  did the deed on 4-24-07.  my initial shave was by my barber with electric razor.  after 2-3 weeks.... my wife started manually shaving my dome every day.  anyways... prior 2  april 24,2007.... i still had a good amount of hair but i knew 5-6 years down the road that i would  b  battling thinning hair.   i just wanted 2 do it  b4 mother nature did. 

thankfully.... after doing the deed... my 1st reaction when my barber handed me the mirror was:  "wow.... i should have done this 3 years, ago".   my wife was even more attracted 2 me when she 1st saw me sly.  hell.... as  u  know she shaves my dome daily (every now & then we'll skip a day).  i know that  u  guys "joke around" with me about my wife shaving me but i just asked her once & she has been shaving me since.  i guess that i'm very lucky that i have someone special 2 shave my dome.

WARHAWK

[Razorhead]

If it were my dad back in the 80s predicting that I would shave my head bald by choice, I would have thought it was a cheap attempt at him trying to convince me to get a haircut. I had bad 80s feathered hair. Maybe my headshaving is my attempt at redemption for poor haircut choices as a kid.

[Razor X]

I started thinking about it back in the mid-90s.  Shaved heads were becoming less of an oddity by then and I was really curious about what it would be like.  At that time, though, I still didn't think I'd actually do it.  A few years later when the recession became more pronounced, I started to think about it more and more and it gradually became an obsession.   When I finally shaved, I didn't even know beforehand that I was going to do it -- it was just an impulse.  I'd been scared to do it for such a long time.  Finally the obsession was so strong, I just had to do it and didn't care what the consequences were anymore. 

[JohnMont]

If it were my dad back in the 80s predicting that I would shave my head bald by choice, I would have thought it was a cheap attempt at him trying to convince me to get a haircut. I had bad 80s feathered hair. Maybe my headshaving is my attempt at redemption for poor haircut choices as a kid.

Same here.  If my dad could see me now (passed away in 2003).  In the '70s I had long hair past my shoulders.  Dad and I had some BIG fights about it.   In those days I never in my wildest dreams would have thought I would be shaved bald and enjoying it ...  I got the bug for shaving after I had been wearing it in a flattop and then buzzcuts for a few years (from around 1995, off and on).   I was reading posts on a message board called the Buzzboard , which is  for men with short haircuts but has a high bias toward head shaving.  Guys there were constantly extolling the wonders of the shaved head; and maybe a couple of years ago; I started to get the "bug" .   Couldn't really go through with it till I met the great and supportive guys on THIS website.  Sly guys; I wouldn't be shaved right now if it weren't for you. 

[Paul]

 Like John, I had some massive fights with my dad over hair length and as there in no MPB in the family I never even thought about being bald.  The barbers at Marine Corps Recruit Depot, San Diego had other ideas however.  I remember thinking I looked hideous and was glad it would be 13 weeks before I had to face the outside world.  Even in the Corps, a totally shaved head was an extreme rarity.  After years of wearing a high & tight flattop I began wondering what I would look like if I took the rest off and looked totally slick.  As more sly guys came into the mainstream I found myself thinking about it more and more.  When the proposition was made to the teachers that we sign up to get out heads shaved for the Armed Forces Childrens Scholarship Fund, I was still leary about actually doing it.  Once done I was amazed how much I liked the look and feel of being sly.   I checked into this site and got encouragement to stay sly and have obviously not gone back.  In fact the new girlfriend actually remarked the other day that she can't remember me with hair, even though she knew me when I had it.  Thanks guys for the encouragement and support back then.

[SLYinKC]

Never, ever, in a million years would I have even contemplated it until a couple of years ago.

Everyone in my family still has a full head of hair and baldness was never an issue and was kinda unusual.  Before, I was married, I had a roommate that was a couple of years younger than me, but was severely balding.  I remember kidding alot about it and telling him how I didn't have to worry cause nobody in my family has baldness.  I look back now and think that somehow he must have put a curse on my hair.  But in wasn't until about 5 years ago that I really started to realize that it was becoming a real problem and experimented with different "short" haircuts to try to hide the problem.  Nothing worked.  I started noticing guys with the SLY look and kept wondering if I could ever "pull it off".  Never had the cajones to do the deed until I stumbled accross this site back in April.  Now, it's just the way that I am, and I'm never looking back.

[JDog]

Great posts guys.

[xnewyawka]

I agree, excellent posts. I have to add in my story since were on the subject.
I mentioned in another thread about having long hair, and I will tell you all now, when I was younger I never gave a thought to losing my hair.
I had longer hair when I was in grammar school; it was myself and about
3 or 4 other kids who had the longest hair. Remember now, this was in the 70's, so it was pretty common. But I went to catholic school- so there was some limit to hair length, but we were at the fringes, I guess you could say.
I kept it that way and some of you may remember when the middle part style with "wings" came out, I think it started with David Cassidy. Anyway that was the big style until Mr. Travolta starred in you know what. (Before that, check him out in Welcome Back, Kotter).
Anyway, I went through that period for a very short time, I stress short, lol.  Came to my senses and started growing it back, and by then I was heading into the eighties', and yes, I had the heavy metal hair that Razorhead mentioned earlier.
 I would always say "I'll never cut my hair, lol. I have to lookback and laugh at that now, but you have to enjoy what you have. Never gave a thought to mpb, why would I?
I must say I am very comfortable with where I am now. It's where I am in life, and that is how you have to look at it. I probably would have taken much longer to shave, had I not found this site. Like SLYinKC said, you can never look back.   

Ps- I remember watching Kojak on tv, loved the show, and Telly was the coolest.     He's one of the original Sly G's.

[Razorhead]

After shaving for over a year now, i suprise myself that I'm a bald by choice guy.