Chris Rock recently came out with a documentary called Good Hair. He decided to make the film after his little girl one day said, ” Daddy, why don’t I have good hair?” By good hair, she meant “white” hair he said.
In reality, she didn’t just want “white ” hair. She wants the white hair that is thick, straightish, silky and shiny. Remember the Breck girls from the magazine ads in the 60′s and 70′s? They all had “good” hair. Guess what? In the 60′s I wanted that hair too; and I’m about as white as they come. In Jr.high I started looking at magazines and seeing models that didn’t look like me. Coleen Corby was tall, with a small bust and long, straight hair. I was short and busty, with curly or frizzy (depending on the humidity that day) hair.
I saw Susan Chalmers at the reunion. (We’ve known each other since 4th grade). The last time I’d seen her she still had red hair. Now it’s gray and cut short. We must’ve talked 10 minutes, reminiscing about everything from Brownies to what our grown kids are doing now. After talking about her red hair, we discussed how it’s OK to have curly hair now, but not back then. It brought back so many memories, not all pleasant ones.
Every Saturday morning I had the same routine. Wash and condition my hair. Apply the Dep. (You do remember Dep don’t you?) Or perhaps you preferred Dippity-Do. Then I’d take my hair and start wrapping it sideways, across my forehead then around and around, clipping it in place as you go. If you had long, thick hair like I did, the wrapped hair got really thick. Then I sat under a dryer for at least three hours. Somedays it looked pretty good when I was done; that is until I went outside.
My hair on a humid day
If it was really humid outside, I was screwed. Ten minutes after the humidity hit my hair I looked like a refugee from the Outback (Not the steakhouse). I never did iron my hair. However, I had it straightened more than once. Finally, years after I finally made peace with my curls, Chi irons hit the scene. I could finally have the long silky hair I always wanted in my teens. For me though. I’m like Popeye now- “I yam what I yam and that’s all that I yam”. Today’s trivia answer- Switzerland.
I struggled with my wiry hair until I hit 25. I always wanted the silky long hair. No matter what I did I could get it to cooperate. I finally had enough, chopped it off into a pixie cut. Best thing I ever did.