Wednesday, January 26, 2011

What an interesting day I've had....

I clippered the long hair off the head of a dear friend today.....how did this come to be, I hear you ask.

Well it started like this, a friend of mine Kath decided to challenge societal conformities and shave her head bald and at the same time raise money for Australian Cancer Council. Kath has done a remarkable job of raising money for her chosen causes of Australian Cancer Council and the Premier's Flood Appeal (due to the recent savage flooding of Brisbane). Kath put in the assorted structures for fund raising and then set about organising her support crew, of which I was one. I drive, Kath doesn't so I was always happy to be designated driver to the chosen locale of "Operation Baldy".

Then we were pottering about shopping or having coffee and she asked me to be part of her "pit crew" and assist in the shaving of her head. Now anyone that knows me generally doesn't want me anywhere near them with sharp instruments as I have a chequered history of accidental injury to myself with sharp instruments!
I was delighted to be asked but for the safety of Kath I elected to be the "macro" shaver and the other pit crew member Kylie (who is an aspiring medical student) was the "micro" shaver!

So Kath's hair was bundled up in a low pony tail so we could snip it off and then I could start clippering, well my first shock was how long it took to actually snip off Kath's pony tail, yes it was thick but I think my scissors were a bit blunt, cause I was scissoring away but only a few strands at a time were coming off. We changed scissors and then it started to happen a bit quicker, but it still took a good few minutes to cut her thick pony tail off. Then the clippers were handed to me, now I have NEVER used clippers and was worried about nicks and scratches so I took it very slowly. We did a number 3 grade clip, then down to number 2 and finally number 1 clip. Lots of photos were taken at each step.

We lathered up Kath's scalp and Kylie commenced to shave Kath's head, we were both surprised at how hard it was to start shaving someone else's head, you don't have the tactile feel that you do when you shave your own body parts so you are removed from how it felt then you had the worry of nicking the scalp! By the end there were a few tiny nicks due to Kylies efforts to ensure a very very close shave!

The amount of hair that was clippered and shaved off was amazing, and let me tell you it got EVERYWHERE! I now know I could never be a hairdresser as hair gets in the most annoying nooks and crannies of your body and it's bloody itchy!

I was very impressed with Kath's handling of this momentous occasion as I was fully expecting a lot of tears and emotions with the falling of the hair but no there were no tears,just exclamations of amazement and wonder!

I was delighted that Kath is blessed with a noggin that is shapely and can rock a bald cut in a very sophisticated manner!

Unlike my good noggin which I fear rivals Mr Potato Head for lumps and bumps and misshapen shape. Nevertheless I have decided that at a time right for me I will shave my head bald as it is one of things on my "bucket list". My hair grows quickly and abundantly so I need not be bald terribly long if I regret it.

A very interesting day all in all.............