And so begins the onslaught of ribbing
While I don’t quite have that 70s pornstar vibe happening yet, I bet I could have been an extra in the 1980 Al Pacino gay detective flick ‘Cruising‘ (oh yes, look it up).
This could be all in my head, but I swear that I’ve noticed mixed glances thrown my way. They range from “keep that guy away from my children'” to “oh that poor dear has dirt under his nose” to “now why would he go and do that?” I really need to start wearing my ‘ask me about…’ pins.
Then again, my own friends have started in with the ribbing. Blogger Amy Vernon confirmed my suspicions that the stache was weak with, “Wow, that is kind of lame. But I mean that in the most loving way possible.”
When I complained that my Facebook posts were missing, my friend Tracy from San Francisco said, “I thought your posts were hiding behind your mustache.”
My own girlfriend would every so often interrupt me with, “Shhh, shh. I think your mustache is trying to tell me something.” She even created a mock newspaper with the headline, “Bailey Leaves Girlfriend for Mustache!”
Ok, I know … I’m a terrible facial-hair grower. I always come out looking like some mangy mutt lost in a train yard. At least when working with the full real estate of the face, I can get away with looking like a crazy artist on a binge. Limiting growth to the patch just under my nose, not so much.
Two things are keeping my spirits up. The first is knowing that people have been (and will be) kindly donating money on my behalf to support cancer research at the Pediatric Department of Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center.
The other is knowing that many far worse staches have been unleashed onto the world. Brian Childs of Asylum.com (who is also growing his stache for the cause) launched a much-needed boost to all growers’ egos; Dirty Upper Lip.
So help make all of my humiliation worthwhile, give today.
Tomorrow I start searching for mustache grooming tips.
See Also:
My Mustache Fights Cancer!
