Crazy Hair, Crazy Comments

I have been known to cause folks to make the weirdest comments about my hair. For some reason, my hair prompts people to come out and talk to me in not so usual ways. Some times the talk is complimentary, sometimes kind, sometimes pitying, always somewhat interesting.

I tell this to my closest friends, and I feel that they think I am showing off, trying to point attention to me, when I “brag” that random strangers pay attention to me because of my hair.

But they stop thinking that (I hope), the minute they spend more than an hour with me in public places and see for themselves what kind of “attention” my hair really attracts. It’s like a magnet for some conversations you would rather never have!

One comment that I got yesterday, though, surprised even me! Usually, the comments are about the color, the frizz, the fullness or the “too much”-ness, questions about what products I use or who do I take after, or where I get it styled (I don’t!), or why I am not coloring it to cover the gray.

Well, yesterday, I was walking hand in hand with my husband on the Provo Parkway Trail, me with camera around my neck, he, with one around his wrist. And this middle aged, very … uumm … “well preserved” lady, with colored red-purple hair, on roller blades, with some sort of a “purse” dog in her arms, just rolled on by, with this comment: “Wow! I have always thought people with curly hair like that are very smart. Back at UVU (Utah Valley University, for those who don’t know, or the “other”, or “non-Mormon” university here), there were always these guest speakers that would come in with pretty curly hair like this, and you would just know, they were very smart.”

And she continued rolling. This was not a question, nor did she wait for much of a reaction from me. Just rolled on by …

All rightie then! What do you say to that, I wondered?!

I did have one question: what do you say about middle aged women with naturally curly purse dogs that they choose to have shaved ?! What to think about those people, guest speakers or not?! Hhmm … I could not ask, but I guessed she either didn't want a "smart" dog, or her theory didn't apply to those …