The Tale of the Tail

M has been losing his hair since his 20s and has been keeping it cut close with clippers for years. He’ll take the clippers every few weeks, use it on the lowest setting, and run it over his head. He’s never seen a reason to go to the barber shop when he can do it himself.

I noticed over the weekend that his hair had gotten a little long, so I mentioned that it was time for a haircut.

When I got home yesterday, I saw the back of M’s head and there was – almost in the middle of his head – a triangle of hair that he had missed cutting. It was as though he was letting a “tail” of hair continue to grow.

Well, of course, I laughed and had a good time with that. In fact, I had a hard time telling him what was so funny because I was laughing so hard. He was a little upset, saying that I was laughing at him . . .

Until I got him to a mirror where he could see it. Then, he was doubled over, laughing at it, himself.

The rest of the night, any time I asked him to do something or said something he didn’t like, he would turn his back to me and said “Talk to the tail.”

That may be our new catch phrase.

4 Replies to “The Tale of the Tail”

  1. That’s hilarious! And made me think of my brother-in-law giving his two sons a bowl cut, literally! As men in their 30s now they’re horrified by their home grown haircuts from the early 90s. So funny. It sounds like you also must be feeling much better today. Maybe laughter is indeed the best medicine.

    1. Yes – a much better day, all the way around! But when you think about haircuts from the 90s, I don’t know anyone who is happy with the way they looked back then. And we loved it so much at the time. Makes me wonder what we’ll say about today when we look back in 10 or 20 years.

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