So I’m not sure if any of you are in the same boat as me, but my hair is crazy. I have curls for days. I wake up in the morning and it looks like I just stuck my finger in the outlet next to my bed. Brushes are the devil, wide tooth combs and I have a love-hate relationship, and keratin treatments are my best friend. I am going on 20 years with the voluminous locks on my head and I have become quite good at maintaining my hair. I have my favorite products and shower routine. I cut my straightening time from 2 hours down to 45 minutes and I check the weather like its my job (rain= a bun). In addition to this I have gotten every comment you could ever imagine, from all kinds of people. The other day someone said, “There once was this thing called a blowout and it died. I was so sad when it went out of style, and you brought it back, wonderfully. I am so impressed.” Then of course I said, “Oh, haha…thanks? This is my natural hair… I didn’t blow dry it….” The guy then did the whole “What? No way!? Wow!” thing that usually follows anything ever said about my hair and I awkwardly turn away.
A week after that encounter I walk into work with my hair down and one of my coworkers say, “Wow did you get a perm?” Again, I’m thinking “Well, this is awkward.” The other girls on shift giggle and I answer that no I have not gotten a perm and that my hair is just naturally huge and curly. It always does give me a little satisfaction that the commenter feels uneasy when they realize they are wrong and may have just insulted me. I actually never get insulted, because my hair is crazy and I understand that, but still- it can get awkward.
If any of you have ever been told “Oh my god, did you just come back from the gym?” when you literally just got dressed and walked out the door, you understand the feeling. Half the time you just agree with whatever strange assumption is made about you, because you do not have any energy left to explain your life to someone else. As I always say, embrace the awkwardness, maybe even laugh about it. Sometimes, random situations are the spice of the day. Sometimes….