Sly Bald Guys Forum

New Member Section => Introductions => Topic started by: Gary~ on December 24, 2012, 12:34:17 AM

Title: Victim of Breaking Bad syndrome.
Post by: Gary~ on December 24, 2012, 12:34:17 AM
Hi everyone. I am 57, no spring rooster, and was going really thin on top. I was thinking of shaving my head for a while then one day I downloaded all 50 odd episodes of "Breaking Bad" and watched them over about 4 days. After watching them I was at a friends house six days ago and told her that I had a great urge to shave my head and she said "do it". I told her that I thought that it might look strange etc but then she said "what is the worst thing that people could think or say".

On my walk home I thought about it and just after arriving home I whipped it all off with a disposable razor and went back to her place for an appraisal, a tidy up and a beard trim which she said was necessary to make it blend a bit better. I must admit that the first time was a bit bloody.

To my amazement I didn't have a funny shaped head and I loved the way that it felt. I have had no  negative reactions from anyone and I now feel free of the "anxiety" of having hair, an "anxiety" that I didn't even know that I had until it was gone.

It's summer time here now and so it is nice and cool. Now when I get back from a sweaty walk I simply remove my glasses and spray my entire skull with water from a misting bottle. A minute or two later I am cool. How efficient is that.

One slight problem is that on the side of my skull that you can't see in my pic I have 2 moles which are unsightly and difficult to shave around. I have however already had them frozen at the doctor's surgery so soon they will be gone and shaving will be easier.

The thing that I am most surprised about is that I have not felt bad or that I look funny. It seemingly took no time to adjust to my bald look. First time meeting people that I know or first time walking down the streets of the local town -- no problem. In fact, it feels really good. I am starting to feel sorry for all those old codgers who are stubbornly hanging onto their few remaining wisps of hair. I even had an older man pointed out to me that had a combover from both sides and held together on top by bobby pins.

It's strange that shaving one's head could cause a rise in one's confidence level but in my case it seems to be true. I'm so glad I did it and I'm never going back to hair.
Title: Re: Victim of Breaking Bad syndrome.
Post by: Andrei on December 24, 2012, 12:55:12 AM
Welcome to the forum, congratulation!
The bald look works great for you and definitely this is a success story.
The confidence you're talking about get's a refill each morning with each shave.
Title: Re: Victim of Breaking Bad syndrome.
Post by: Gary~ on December 24, 2012, 03:55:29 AM
Thanks for the kind words Andrei. You are right about the confidence getting a boost after every shave [at least at this early stage]. I hadn't realised that until you said it. I have no idea why this is -- I'll have to think about it.
Title: Re: Victim of Breaking Bad syndrome.
Post by: Andrei on December 24, 2012, 04:13:18 AM
I believe the confidence comes from doing what you want, enjoying it, realizing (over and over again) that it was a good decision.
Must admit I still look in a mirror or glass window while passing in front of a shop and take a look at my reflection and like what I see as much as I did after the first shave.

Title: Re: Victim of Breaking Bad syndrome.
Post by: Beardman on December 24, 2012, 04:37:42 AM
Another Aussie, that's what we like to see!

G'day mate, and welcome to the family! We've got quite the following appearing of late which is great!

Where do you hail from? I'm from Geelong personally, but we've got some fine blokes from all over the place on here.
Title: Re: Victim of Breaking Bad syndrome.
Post by: Sly Red on December 24, 2012, 04:41:43 AM
Welcome to Sly Bald Guys!  Always glad to have another bald bearded bloke to join the over fifty crowd.  O0

Red
Title: Re: Victim of Breaking Bad syndrome.
Post by: mrzed on December 24, 2012, 05:48:00 AM
Confidence, yes. you look great with a shaved head.  Nice glasses too. I like that rimless style.

yesterday I was at the mall. Lots of bald heads. I had on a bold red sweater, Christmas bow tie, and a huge smile.  you could sense the eye connect as these BBC guys walked past. I love the confidence of a bald head. says something special. 

I was surprised how many bald guys were there. shaved to nothing on top. Nice.
Title: Re: Victim of Breaking Bad syndrome.
Post by: Petunia on December 24, 2012, 05:57:06 AM
Welcome!  I agree about the confidence.  It is being able to do what you want.
Title: Re: Victim of Breaking Bad syndrome.
Post by: Frontier Guy on December 24, 2012, 06:17:58 AM
Voidoid, welcome.

Great story of how quickly you can recognize the situation, take control, and be totally fine on the other side.

Your delight will continue to grow as you enjoy the subtle points of a shaved head.

Glad you're here. Now, stick around and continue to participate. We've got a fine Aussie team on board.
Title: Re: Victim of Breaking Bad syndrome.
Post by: Razor X on December 24, 2012, 06:37:14 AM
Looks good. Welcome.
Title: Re: Victim of Breaking Bad syndrome.
Post by: FR8TRAIN on December 24, 2012, 06:37:24 AM
Looks great! O0 Welcome to the family.
Title: Re: Victim of Breaking Bad syndrome.
Post by: Mikekoz13 on December 24, 2012, 07:37:53 AM
Welcome to the Forum! You look great and your first post is excellent!
Title: Re: Victim of Breaking Bad syndrome.
Post by: tomgallagher on December 24, 2012, 10:00:30 AM
Welcome to the group.
Title: Re: Victim of Breaking Bad syndrome.
Post by: Laser Man on December 24, 2012, 10:53:05 AM
Welcome!  Glad you are enjoying your new look!
Title: Re: Victim of Breaking Bad syndrome.
Post by: Switchy on December 24, 2012, 11:29:16 AM
Welcome  8)
Title: Re: Victim of Breaking Bad syndrome.
Post by: Lynchy on December 24, 2012, 12:08:51 PM
Welcome mate,

Glad your digging the new look!

The Australian contingency continues to grow :)
Title: Re: Victim of Breaking Bad syndrome.
Post by: TheSlyBear on December 24, 2012, 12:12:23 PM
I now feel free of the "anxiety" of having hair, an "anxiety" that I didn't even know that I had until it was gone.
This is a really good point. Most "haired" people don't believe me when I say that I'd not want to restore my hair even if I could, but it's true. I call it being "free from the tyranny of hair".

Quote
It's strange that shaving one's head could cause a rise in one's confidence level but in my case it seems to be true.
You are far from alone in that regard.

Congrats on taking this big step!
Title: Re: Victim of Breaking Bad syndrome.
Post by: slymyke on December 24, 2012, 12:21:08 PM
Welcome!  Cool story and look. 
Title: Re: Victim of Breaking Bad syndrome.
Post by: nuts on December 24, 2012, 12:22:37 PM
Greetings from another Aussie.  As many have said the surge in confidence is amazing - perhaps someone could do a PHD thesis on this - and most wonder why they didn't take the plunge sooner.
Title: Re: Victim of Breaking Bad syndrome.
Post by: Scottakist on December 24, 2012, 01:36:31 PM
Heisenberg!
   
   Welcome to the boards
Glad there is another Breaking Bad fan amongst the crowd.
Title: Re: Victim of Breaking Bad syndrome.
Post by: antRox on December 24, 2012, 05:02:18 PM
Welcome to the boards fellow Aussie  :)
Title: Re: Victim of Breaking Bad syndrome.
Post by: OzSly on December 24, 2012, 06:39:58 PM
G'Day voidoid mate  O0

Great to see the Aussie Chapter Of Sly Bald Guys Growing.

Welcome mate, thanks for sharing your story.
Title: Re: Victim of Breaking Bad syndrome.
Post by: Gary~ on December 24, 2012, 08:45:10 PM
This is a really good point. Most "haired" people don't believe me when I say that I'd not want to restore my hair even if I could, but it's true. I call it being "free from the tyranny of hair".

Yes, I think that part of the tyranny is having to "adjust" your hair to be presentable to others when meeting them or dropping in or whatever. Whenever I would enter another's home I would have to quickly "adjust" my hair to make sure that it wasn't untidy or showing too much of a bald spot [mind you it was impossible not to show]. Any sort of adjustment would therefore entail some sort of anxiety about getting it right -- even if the anxiety or worry was very slight or perhaps even consciously unnoticeable.

Now, there is none of that. Without hair what you see is what you get. There is no concern about "getting it right" or "getting it wrong". It feels really, really liberating. I just wish that I had known that it was going to be like this for me.

Mind you, if someone had said that it would be like this I probably wouldn't have believed them. Considering the 30 day rule I would have thought that there would have been a difficult adjustment period but not so.
Title: Re: Victim of Breaking Bad syndrome.
Post by: Sir Harry on December 25, 2012, 07:00:52 AM
Welcome aboard!
Title: Re: Victim of Breaking Bad syndrome.
Post by: kalbo on December 25, 2012, 07:12:49 PM
welcome to the bald brotherhood. You wear bald really well.
Title: Re: Victim of Breaking Bad syndrome.
Post by: xnewyawka on December 27, 2012, 10:55:33 AM
Welcome to the forum voidoid, glad to hear you're enjoying your new found freedom!   O0