What absolute gross looks like in the heart of winter.
When our publisher, Harvey Brock, asked me if I’d ever heard of No-Shave November and Movember, I laughed and told him of course I had as I consider myself at least somewhat tuned into trends.
Then he asked if I’d ever tried it.
As a guy who had never gone past the so-called “sexy stubble” stage of facial hair, I told him I never had. It’s partially because I always had a job where keeping a clean look was necessary and also because I never felt I could actually grow enough hair on my face for it to look decent.
Maybe I wasn’t so trendy after all.
But, when you hate shaving in the morning, as I do, and your boss gives you a free pass to go grizzly — you take it! And, in case you haven’t seen me since the beginning of November, I did.
The stubble was cool for a few days. I didn’t look too bad. Then, after about a week, it got all weird lookin’.
I considered bowing out of the race and shaving but figured I had better wait it out. It turned out to be a good decision.
After a little more than three weeks, the beard doesn’t look bad — aside from the bare spot just below my lower lip that refuses to grow.
In case you have ever thought about growing a beard but never tried, I must warn you: beards are itchy. Everyone tells me the itch goes away and that I should use conditioner to wash it. I do and it helps — for a while. Then it itches again.
I tell them the itch will go away for good once I shave it.
I constantly find myself rubbing above my upper lip where my mini-mustache now grows — it itches, you know — and wonder if I randomly touched my face this often when I was clean-shaven.
But it’s all going toward a good cause, so I’ll deal with it for a while.
For every day I go without shaving, I am donating $2 to the American Cancer Society.
Many Dickinson business leaders are doing the same. If you see one of them today andwonder why he looks a little more grizzled than you’re used to seeing them, odds are he’s participating in No-Shave November and maybe even Don’t-Shave December, if they really like their beard.
While I’m pleased my beard is helping raise money for cancer research, it’s probably a good thing that Sarah doesn’t mind it at all. In fact, she thinks I should keep it, even though I intend on shaving it off.
So, if my barber is reading this, he can get his hot-towel shave kit ready because I’m coming to see him sooner rather than later.