I have blue hair. My wonderful, lovely, talented, adorable, good company, sweet, friend
Anna came over and dyed it for me. She wanted to give someone mermaid hair and I was over my red and wanted some change for summer and voila! Mermaid hair!
Allow me to say that I truly enjoy having blue hair. It makes me feel pretty when I see it in the mirror or get a glimpse of it from the corner of my eye. It's a super fun change and I love that it's different from anything that I've done. Plus it pops these baby blues of mine like you wouldn't believe. Where is the bad?
With that being said, I live in the Bible Belt, but in
small town Bible Belt. With a lot of colorful (like that pun?) close-minded-traditional-super-religious folks that could never understand why any self respecting person would dye their hair an unnatural color. So when I did this I considered what kind of reaction I'd get from my fellow Haywood Countians.
That's what this is about. It has kiiiiiind of turned into a social experiment of sorts for me. I do those a lot when I'm out but, this one is a little different. These are specific verbal encounters, I won't waste our time noting all of the stares and glances I get.
First Encounter:
Habitat for Humanity. A male employee sees me and my friend Marlee shopping for some goodies for her classroom. We're keeping to ourselves with quiet conversation talking about the neat doors they have in the back and we hear, "LOOK AT THIS HAAA-R DO!"He proceeds to follow us up to the front of the store calling people's attention to my hair and "WHY WOULD SHE DONE DO THIS TO HER HAAA-R?" During this episode a woman to my right comes out of the woodwork - literally - and walks over to me and reaches to touch my hair
....did I give you permission for that? No? I didn't think so. But thanks for trying.... and tells me she likes it, it's pretty.
Why thank you madam. Finally stalker employee gets over his fascination and we move on with life.
Second Encounter:
I'm walking in Walmart with Marlee looking for something... I can't remember what exactly, when we hear "I LIKE YOUR HAAA-R!" from a young girl with her Mom. The Mom looks at us askance but I thank her daughter nonetheless.
Third Encounter:
Today with my dad and there were 3 high school kids playing around and as they pass the aisle I'm on they all back up in sync and one gets bold enough to tell me she liked my hair. It was cute.
Fourth Encounter - and my personal favorite:
I am searching for some fabric and I pass a mom, sister and 9 year old. The 9 year old calls out "MOM!! MOOOOOM!!!!!111!111!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I want her hair! I WANT HAIR LIKE HERS!"
Whoa... So I back up so good ol' Mom can see what the heck her 9 year old is in a tizzy over. She peers around the corner of her aisle and takes one look at me and blanches and says, "Uh, no." In that
mom fashion. You know, that kind.
Fifth Encounter - second favorite:
I run into my favorite little pizza joint for a to go order. Chat with the pleasant cashier about nothing and as she turns her back to me I turn around to see if there is anyone in the place I know. Not joking you guys, EVERY single person in the dining room was staring at me. As my eyes reached theirs they all quickly averted their eyes and started talking amongst themselves and eating, like nothing had happened. Picture that scene in Beauty and the Beast when Belle turns from reading her book and the villagers quickly resume their lives after singing a song about how odd she is. Now, for those of you who don't know me, I have a booming laugh. I can't help it and it get's really REALLY loud when I'm super tickled. Once they had resumed their dinner I just burst out laughing and no help for it.
The general glances are either appreciation for it OR instant judgement. The judgement glances are my favorite - cynicism, I know. I don't have any tattoos (yet), I don't do drugs, I'm not a menace to society, I'm not a hirsute lout, I love Jesus, and I'm a pretty nice person that just wanted a change for summer. But, those folks won't ever know that about me.
To experience this kind of social reaction first hand is a lesson to me. It encourages me to always keep my mind and my heart open regarding people I don't know. It's also teaching me to continue reveling in and celebrating my individuality. I'll keep a log here and share it with you when there is something worth sharing. Happy Wednesday!
xo Shannon