Sly Bald Guys Forum
Discussions About Being Bald => Reactions to being Bald => Topic started by: Slick Head on March 01, 2010, 08:47:51 AM
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I am about 2 weeks now into being SLY and I love it but over the weekend I was in the pub with my wife and another couple when I glanced around and I was the youngest in there and of course with no hair and a part of me felt a little bit down about it. I started losing my hair when I was 20'ish and its only the last 2 weeks I decided to hell with it and took it right down to the wood.
Please don't get me wrong guys, I love being SLY and I'll always stick with it but has anyone ever felt like this before? I am not sure if it's just a confidence thing that will eventually get better.
Hope you guys are ok over there! O0
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It happened to me a few times, feeling like the "odd duck!" But fortunately, once I went sly and perhaps because of that, I kept seeing more and more guys w/ mpb either sly or very tightly buzzed. The gym helped a lot--except for airports there seems to be the highest proportion of slys in gyms. Other guys have speculated, and I agree, that being sly is either part of the mind set of guys in a gym, i.e. looking their best, or two, being sly seems to make a guy want to shape up the rest of the body. I think the same will happen to you.
You're only 2 weeks into the 30 day trial and I'd bet by the end much of this will have gone away.
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No way - - -you will go other places and see other SLY BALD guys - - -Look around whenever you are out - - -we are all over the place
I wish you lived near me - -I see several slick melons every day - - - - -I eat out every day - - -breakfast - lunch - and dinner - - -maybe that is the reason - - -but we have state troopers here and most of them are BALD - - -
We are a great society of guys - -BALD that is
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Hey Slick Head,
I think that's a pretty common experience for recent first-timers. I know I felt the same way off and on for a while after taking it all off. Sometimes it takes a while for your mental image of yourself to catch up with the sly guy in the mirror. The good news is, I think that stage definitely passes (it certainly did for me). After a while, the bald head becomes part of who you are. In fact, at some point in the not-too-distant future, I'm betting you'll look at pics of yourself WITH hair and think it looks really strange on you.
Also, as you get into your 30s, more and more of your peers are gonna join you in the Bare Noggin Club. When I first shaved my head a decade ago (I was in my early 30s), it definitely made me stand out from most of my friends. Now I'd say nearly half are bald or significantly balding, and more than a few have taken off what's left.
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All of us at one time or another feel that way.We lose confidence in ourselves and think we stick out like a sore thumb.But given time this passes and we hold up our heads and be proud.This is the way we are,lets make the best of it.
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Thanks Brothers
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Hi Slick, the first 30 days for me was filled with moments of shock and "who's that guy in the mirror". I took everyone's advice and stuck through the first 30 days. There is definitely a transition period during the first month - and I thank everyone here for reminding all of us newbies to stick to the blade for that time period. The shock wore off after the first 30 days and I transitioned into being comfortable during the next 30 days. By the end of the second month I was totally sold and convinced that I will never go back. I'm at the end of my 3rd month (Thursday is my 3 month anniversary) and being sly isn't something that I dwell on anymore. The only thing I think about now is why I didn't do this decades ago - all that pain, agony, anxiety, and money wasted on something as inconsequential as hair.
Hold tough. The 30 days goes quickly.
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Hi
What you are feeling is normal, especially when you see very few sly guys
I am in a work environment that has the same scenario
How do I handle it: I like the way I look and I am happy with it
That's the key
So hang in there
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I'm 48 hours into my first 30 days... So far I am loving it... I worry LESS about my clean shaven head, than I worried / was self conscious about my growing bald spot....
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Hi guys,
After shaving my head I got into it pretty quickly but last night at the pub had one of these experiences. I was sitting there thinking sh!t i am the only bald guy here and am one of the youngest. I felt like my dome was a beacon and everyone was staring, or checking out their reflections in it. No one even commented and there were no negative responses, but i just couldn't get this self conscious feeling outta my head.
Later that night we went to a house party and I got called 'baldy' - this struck me as odd, but then i realised - i am bald! she is within her rights to call me that!! but i still reacted negatively to it and kept telling myself to not. then for the next 15 mins she proceeded to rub it and analyse so not all was lost.
any tips for not reacting negatively and for embracing all the names that come with it..
i got crome dome today at a hockey match as well and i wasn't too impressed with that.
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The best defense is a good offense 8) I like the terms Onion Head, Chrome Dome, etc. I tend to use them first and laugh when someone tries to down me with them. Way I see it if I'm laughing, I win! 8) I think it's funny because all my friends come to me for shaving advice. I feel like a guru ::) God Bless
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It's all part of the 30 days. The feeling that everyone is staring at you fades away. You become self-confident again and comments like that go in one ear and out the other.
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Posted MikeCI'm 48 hours into my first 30 days... So far I am loving it... I worry LESS about my clean shaven head, than I worried / was self conscious about my growing bald spot....
Mike you look like Black Francis the lead singer of the Pixies. He looks so good, he was the one that made me go sly this time around. So therefore, I think you look COOL!!!
Slick Head, with that beautiful wife and your good looks, you would stick out with or without hair. Man you guys both look like models.
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Slick-
It's never a bad thing to be the one that's different or as the Saint put it.. the "odd duck". I relish in that in fact. A good response???
"Yeah I could be like everyone else but that's pretty boring, don't you think?".
Get on with it my Friend... you look great!
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Hi guys,
After shaving my head I got into it pretty quickly but last night at the pub had one of these experiences. I was sitting there thinking sh!t i am the only bald guy here and am one of the youngest. I felt like my dome was a beacon and everyone was staring, or checking out their reflections in it. No one even commented and there were no negative responses, but i just couldn't get this self conscious feeling outta my head.
Dude... I had the same experience yesterday. I went to a Red Sox game with my friend, and the whole time I was sitting on the train on my way to meet up with him at Fenway I felt really self-conscious. I never felt that way at work, or when I'm with other people, but when I'm by myself in public I feel kind of weird. Like when I caught my reflection in the window of the train I thought the exact same thing... I'm the only bald guy here and I'm the youngest one! I ended up putting on my Sox hat for the rest of the night (mostly because it was so cold, but also cause I felt like I looked ridiculous) I think part of the problem is my head is blindingly shiny... I need to get a tan ASAP, but it's been rainy and cloudy here for weeks.
Part of me thinks I should let it grow back a little, just to see how it looks... I went from long hair to no hair without stopping in between. It would definitely make me a little more inconspicuous, I don't mind standing out usually (at school I feel fine) but sometimes in public I just feel uncomfortable knowing that everybody is looking right at me.
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sometimes in public I just feel uncomfortable knowing that everybody is looking right at me.
Sorry, you're not a bad looking dude, but really hardly anyone notices you--really, it's in your head, your great looking shiny sly head. 8)
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Yeah I sort of get where you guys are coming from, I'm certain I've felt that way in the past. It's probably a part of getting used to the look and becoming more comfortable in your own skin. I think in the end what matters is how you perceive it. Now I think it's pretty cool that I stand out and that I don't look exactly like everyone else, I think it adds to a certain curiosity that people have towards me. If anything now I worry that many men will recognise the benefits of a clean shaven head, and that I'll just look exactly like everyone else.
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Hi Slick,
When I first saw your postings I though that you were posting something off of a photographers promotional website. I thought that you and your wife were models. You pull the look off perfectly. Ta2Guy said it best though - we are way more self conscious than other are of us and our newly bald heads. As I round the corner on my 5th month of being sly I can honestly say that I don't notice other people looking at my head. I actually feel more in the norm than not. I was eating lunch in the buildings cafe yesterday and out of the 12 or so guys eating lunch -- I only counted 2 guys with hair longer than a #1 and I work in a professional services office building.
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I too thought your photo was from a fairy tale story. However you are a good looking guy especially with the bald head that nothing should prevent you from enjoying the pleasures of being bald. There comes a time when we have to say the hell with everybody else, I like being bald and that’s what counts. You’ll get over the feeling of being bald in no time. It’s a strange feeling when you are with a lot of people, and you’re the only bald guy. Your ears turn red and they feel hot, you turn around and a lot of eyes are on you. The truth is a nice looking shave head turns head. People are amused by a bald head. They keep staring at it until it disappears from view.
I work with a bunch of bald guys, so I feel right at home at work. In public it doesn’t really matter to me anymore. I enjoy the feeling of being bald and comfortable all the time. I keep bumping into a lot of bald guys in my area, and we always make eye contact say hello and smile. We are able to make that connection that only bald guys can. Were bald and we see ourselves in other bald guys. Am I making any sense here.
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I am now almost 3 months in to being Bald By Choice, and I have just started to get use to the guy in the mirror. It has been very strange to look and see the great looking bald guy in the mirror and realize that it is me.
Now that I have been bald for almost 3 months it is refreshing to be past the comment period. The people around me have accepted the look and I love it.
Now if the head would just color evenly I would be happy.
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I am also only a few days into being sly, and sometimes feeling pretty self-aware of my naked dome. At the pool, with a hundred people around there were a few others sly guys (who were already nice and tanned and looked very natural).
Running out to the store and such, I still feel a bit odd. Especially as cashiers vaguely recognize me, but don't say anything.
However, yesterday I went to the Strongman competition and IPA meet at York Barbell (power lifting competitions). I've never felt more at home without hair! While these guys make me look like a twig, there is something to be said for being clean shaven around dozens of others. I would say a solid 1/3 of the competitors were shaved while about 20% of the audience was.
After this past experience, I think I've gone over the hump for being self conscious!
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However, yesterday I went to the Strongman competition and IPA meet at York Barbell (power lifting competitions). I've never felt more at home without hair! While these guys make me look like a twig, there is something to be said for being clean shaven around dozens of others. I would say a solid 1/3 of the competitors were shaved while about 20% of the audience was.
After this past experience, I think I've gone over the hump for being self conscious!
I think another thing is at work here too, after we ditch the combover, rug, thinning dying mop, whatever, most of us really begin to notice how many others have moved on from mpb in the only safe and sane matter other than enduring the ruins on an unshaved scalp. But now, within the past several years, I think the tipping point has been reached in many parts of our country where most guys of all ages, but most obviously in the 20-early 40 crowd have adopted the sly look or at the very least a very short buzz in response to mpb. It's even becoming the "cut" of choice, at least in most major big cities, for the older guys like me. It's clean, sharp and neat, it always improves appearances--it doesn't make a model out of a troll but even then it's still an improvement.
I guess the only thing I wonder :/O, didn't you notice a lot, I mean a whole lot, of sly guys when you were in NYC at your sales meeting? Didn't you feel just a little out of place there in the last days of your thinning dying mop when you saw the general trend? Just curious. It's the same in every large major city in the States I've been to recently.
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I guess the only thing I wonder :/O, didn't you notice a lot, I mean a whole lot, of sly guys when you were in NYC at your sales meeting? Didn't you feel just a little out of place there in the last days of your thinning dying mop when you saw the general trend? Just curious. It's the same in every large major city in the States I've been to recently.
I actually noticed the opposite. At the conference and around the offices, I noticed a lot of "unchecked" MPB. They just had the regular thinning look with relatively short cuts or else the top was gone with a moderate length horseshoe around the sides. The comb-overs thankfully seem to have disappeared.
Walking the streets - yes, I certainly saw a ton of sly guys. I haven't noticed the look propagate to the "professional" world quite as quickly. I will of course be keeping more of an eye out during my upcoming trips - I'll be in DC in about a month.
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Slick and Regi,
Excellent advice that was passed on down to me when I first went through the same type experience many moons ago, during my first few weeks of going sly....
---Wear your newly shaved scalp with pride. There are many many guys out there who would love to take a razor and go sly, but cannot (or will not) take that final step in meeting that challenge, due to suspected non-approval issue by either spouse, other family members, or close friends. You've made the decision to shave it all off, now it's time to back up that decision with a Positive Attitude!!
The FIRST person whose opinion should truly matter to you is YOUR OWN!!
Hope this helps.
- Cap'n Noodles -
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Yes I do feel like the oddman out at times especially being 18.
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I wouldn't let it bother you. The "strange" feelings eventually leave as you become more relaxed with the "new" you. At least, this has happened with me. Don't know about others, though.
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Thanks guys! I have really got used to being sly now and with all the comments and support you guys have given me nothing really bothers me anymore. Its who i am and my nice smooth head is a big part of who i am! O0
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There's a guy at work. Total toilet bowl of hair, with the added "feature" of a band of hair across the coronal suture. This poofy band of hair. It's the most ridiculous thing I've ever seen hair-wise. And it's this golden blond color so he almost has a halo. I've caught him looking at my rock more than once. I finally said, "Dude, in case you're wondering, it's time to shave it." His response? He looked forlorn and said, "I know. My wife won't let me."
So...when you're feeling a lil down...just remember...you're not THAT guy.
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"I know. My wife won't let me."
It's not an excuse, "Ask forgiveness not permission!"--it's in the Bald Man Laws.
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"I know. My wife won't let me."
It's not an excuse.
True, as saint said it's really not an excuse. I have a couple of guys at work who have told me the same thing.
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Seriously. My wife and I have an understanding. She can make me do exactly what I want, I can make her do exactly what she wants. If we think it might piss off the other, we talk.
It's always better to beg forgiveness than ask permission. I think that's one of Gibbs' Rules as well.
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I was in the same boat. My wife absolutely did not want me to go sly. I decided to go for it anyway. I think the 30 day rule goes for significant others too. She's chasing me down now. It's all good.