I have returned to Sly! (a rambling story) - page 1 -

• I have returned to Sly! (a rambling story) by Mike on 04 Dec, 2012 23:56
• Some of you are my facebook friends so you know that I had hair recently. I was Sly on Halloween but I had quite a few friends/family/a company that all said I couldn't grow my hair for a month because I shave so much. Well, I made some bets with friends/family/a company that now has me $600 richer. I went the full 30 days and on day 30 I went in for a haircut, figured I'd try to rock short hair for awhile. Well, the lady (first mistake) messed up, one side of the 'fade' was higher than the other and she refused to fix it unless I paid double. I was ticked off and demanded to speak to a manager but there wasn't one on duty so I left without paying.
   Today I figured I might try a smooth side/back style high & tight kind of hair cut for a while. I had it all pictured in my head and went in to my family's normal barber. Well, he was out today but his sister was in and said she could have it done just the way I wanted (second mistake). I explained it to her and she seemed like she understood. When she was done, it was obvious she didn't understand so I left the barber without paying because it wasn't to my liking. I got home and figured I could fix it myself, hundreds of guys do their own military style haircuts at home all the time, why not me, right? WRONG! I busted out the razor and headslick and had the idea in my mind but I went too high and couldn't get the sides straight so I said to heck with it all and took the rest of the 1/2" of hair on top off with the beard trimmers and shaved it clean.
  
   I am experiencing the typical 'bald newbie' things all over again even though it has only been 34 days. My scalp has that awesome numb/tingly feeling again. I have to do double takes when I walk by a mirror since I got so accustomed to seeing myself with hair (even though it was short). Plus I can't keep my hands off of my smooth head.
  
   I posted on facebook that being smooth bald was much less maintenance than having hair and a few friends disagreed with me. I had to explain that when I shave, I can go a day without shaving and not have to worry. I have such a hectic schedule anyway so there are some times when I have to go a day without showering and no one knows the difference. With hair, I would shower in the morning and by the time I got home from work 13 hours later, my hair would be all greasy feeling all over again. My scalp has been so used to being shaved that the itchyness of having hair was insane! I bet there were people that thought I had lice the way I'd scratch my scalp. I ended up with a few ingrown hairs and something I noticed today as I was shaving, was lots of dead skin since I wasn't able to scrub it all off every day.
  
   
   So, after being gone from Sly for 34 days, I have returned and I am now richer because of it. Surprisingly, my hairline isn't receding like I thought it was, it was just blonde hair in the peaks. But I did pull out close to 100 gray hairs which wasn't too pleasant.
• #1 by Frontier Guy on 05 Dec, 2012 00:35
• Welcome back and congratulations on the new-found wealth, the wisdom of the pitfalls of having hair, and the joys of being unburdened by hair!
• #2 by Beardman on 05 Dec, 2012 01:14
• Welcome back to the slyer side of life. This time of year that $600 will come in quite handy!
• #3 by kalbo on 05 Dec, 2012 01:58
• Thank you for sharing your story Mike. Wish I had friends who would make the same bet with me. 600$ is worth more than a month's salary in my country.
• #4 by -Doug- on 05 Dec, 2012 07:04
• Welcome back to sly side of life Mike. $600...not a bad haul for a month worth of hair growth.
• #5 by slymyke on 05 Dec, 2012 07:41
• Great story, Mike!
  
  It seems like you were destined to be sly again... everything seemed to be pointing you to it for sure.  Were they doubtful you would grow your hair back, or hopeful you would keep it if you did?  I'm thinking this may have been a secret motive for some of them, thus making it worth the cash to them.  If so, I think your shaving it back off has defeated this, and your win is even bigger than the $600.  That will teach them to doubt you!  lol     
  
   
  
  
• #6 by Switchy on 05 Dec, 2012 13:40
• Welcome back, I would sell a organ for $600.00 but none of mine are worth anything.   
• #7 by Mike on 05 Dec, 2012 17:39
• Many people did doubt me and quite a few people wanted me to keep it. I have a coworker that was away on vacation so he didn't see me much as I was growing my hair out until the end. He said that seeing me with hair was like seeing a lady with a mustache, it just isn't right.
  
   I did have a few friends on facebook that said they would pay me if I shaved my head again after they saw me with hair. So in total, I made $615.
  
  
   For those that wonder what I looked like, here is a pic http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=10151332246935395&set=pb.745305394.-2207520000.1354754284&type=3&theater
• #8 by slymyke on 05 Dec, 2012 18:40
• Mike,
  
  I vote for the look in your avatar to be permanent.   (but if you can make some more money down the road, go for it!)
  
  
• #9 by Crusher0209 on 05 Dec, 2012 18:59
• I have to agree with slymyke you look a whole lot better without hair it was kind of shocking to see you with hair but hey you got money and you are back being sly and maybe you would be able to make some more money in the future. Your avatar does look better though
• #10 by Andrei on 06 Dec, 2012 10:30
• Glad you're back Mike!
  I've seen the facebook photo and the sly avatar, both photos look great.
  I would choose the sly look, but maybe I'm biased
  
  By the way how did you last for 34 days? I find headshaving more addictive than sugar and maybe chocolate.
  
• #11 by isleepinthebuff on 06 Dec, 2012 15:32
• I think i suits you actually! Hair suits you!
• #12 by Switchy on 06 Dec, 2012 17:26
• I would stick with the sly look. 
• #13 by Sir Harry on 06 Dec, 2012 19:02
• 34 days? You da man! Hope the dough was worth it.....If it was 34 hours, it'd be a piece of cake for me!
• #14 by Mike on 07 Dec, 2012 07:58
• After the first couple days, it was very itchy.
  
   Something I noticed was that I was treated differently depending on how it was cut. The first few days were normal (compared to being smooth) but between then and the day I got it cut, people treated me like a punk kid. Like I didn't know anything and just an overall rudeness from customers/people. Once I got it cut to a sort of high and tight, people started to be more friendly, they would walk up and start conversations, an overall feeling of community/family type feeling based on how people reacted. To some people that would be great, but to me, I am not too much of a people person so it was rather annoying. After I went Sly again, people are back to normal. They are more respectful and less friendly, people don't come up and waste my time by chatting, I get treated with better service when I go out to eat.
  
   I was talking to a coworker about it last night because they noticed how people treated me differently so I told them all about my observations. Figured I'd share it with everyone here