Growing facial hair is something every young male aspires to do . . . at some point. (I never had an option since I was born with it.) Ya see some fellas have lumberjack beards. A real dandy belongs to a fella named Sean Dietrich (aka Sean of the South) who sports a thick red beard kinda like Yukon Cornelius from the classic Christmas cartoon feature, Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer.
And then there are those (who Pop doesn’t want me to embarrass) that sport one that looks like Maynard G. Krebs who, for those of you too young to have a clue, was a beatnik character on the old Dobie Gillis show from back in the sixties.
Pop was sharing his perspective about follicular follies and fortes not too long ago and, me being the astute listener that I am, I couldn’t help but be amused by some of those thoughts.
Pop said his first feeble effort to grow a “beard” came during his high school days. He said that back then it was against school policy for boys to have hair below their collar and they all had to be clean shaven to the extent practical. But there was an upcoming Christmas play at his church and the lady directing everything asked the boys who could to please grow their own beard so as to cut down on the prosthetics needed. So, Pop attempted to oblige which after a couple of weeks got him a trip to the principal’s office for some counseling and an admonishment to shave his whiskers off.
The next opportunity to see if a beard was even a possibility was in college. And it was stymied there, too, because his football coach didn’t allow facial hair either. But after graduation, whether by intent or just laziness, Pop said he made an attempt to grow one while he was marking time at a local plant working the night shift as he pondered what to do next with his life. He said that one was definitely male hormonally challenged, too.
Then came his time in the Marines. And when the opportunity presented itself at The Basic School, he learned that moustaches were, indeed, allowed. He was counseled by his platoon commander there that, although legal, moustaches were frowned upon especially when in consideration for promotion to the next rank. Pop, being the maverick that he was sometimes prone to be, figured that since he already knew he was going to flight school and that moustaches were a little more common among aviators, decided to grow one anyway. They had to be so closely cropped and trimmed that Pop just described it as “spiffy”.
So, there it was and there it remained throughout his entire career as a Marine officer. And with the exception of a couple of times shaving it off just to make sure his upper lip was still there, it’s been a part of his face ever since. (He did say that on one of the occasions he shaved it off the kids were quite flummoxed by their dad’s appearance and didn’t much like the new look.)
Since then, he’s had a Baxter Black kinda cowboy ‘stache that fits in well here at the ranch. He also grew a beard during the crazy Covid year and once or twice since and was relatively pleased with the results. Of course in his advanced years the ol’ testosterone, he said, was playing tricks on him by shifting hair from the top of his head into his nose and ears. He said he’s developed a Scotsman’s eyebrows, too. (Personally, I don’t see why any of those places are a problem.)
His ‘stache has been kinda trademarked in a couple of caricature’s that reflect Pop’s pilot days so he’s probably gonna have it ‘till they roast it off in the cremation oven. Facial hair is one of the many things we have in common. We old fellas can bond over even the silliest similarities.