I offer this latest in my stories of weird interactions or lack thereof with my co-workers. Last weekend I went to a very nice salon and had my hair cut and highlighted by the owner. She has done my hair before and she is very good at what she does. I trust her completely with my errant tresses. When she suggested a shorter cut to flatter my face shape and rid my hair of damaged ends, I agreed it was time for a change. I went from hair down to the tops of my shoulders, to a cute chin length style with layers. I was very pleased with the results.
I have had the same basic hairstyle for the last several years, so this was a significant change for me. I was proud of my new look and anxious to show it off to my workmates. At the risk of sounding needy, I admit I was kind of disappointed that surprisingly, none, and I mean zero, zilch, nada, not one person from my team said a word to me about my hair. I could see them notice it. I watched them look me over and gaze around my head, but none of them verbally acknowledged it. I wondered, if I had come to work with an eye patch, would they have asked about it or just ignored it?
When I interacted with other co-workers that I see daily, few mentioned it, and those that did had the same odd reaction. Over and over again I heard, "You cut your hair." That declarative statement was the extent of the conversation. I had the same four words uttered at me again and again throughout the day from random co-workers. There was no positive feedback, nor further commentary, just the one observational sentence. "You cut your hair." It implies that I grabbed some shears and started hacking away at my own hair. The worst though, was when a co-worker actually asked me, "Did you dye your hair yourself?" I clearly have highlights. There is a variation in the color; it is not a flat all over $6.99 Miss Clairol do it yourself job. All the pride I had just dissolved, and I was left feeling like the delusional title character in the Emperor's New Clothes. Maybe my hair was brassy and awful and looked uneven?
I felt a little embarrassed going to work on Tuesday, because I was sure at this point that my hair was quite ugly. It had to be. This would explain why my teammates did not acknowledge the change, and why everyone else just remarked that I had cut it. However, on Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday, I had six different co-workers approach me and tell me how cute my new style was. In my experience, all of them are extremely kind and positive people. They could possibly have complimented me just because they are nice, but I am going to take it as genuine. I believe my hair is cute and that it suits me. I do not know why everyone else either chose to ignore it, or just merely acknowledged that my hair was in fact shorter, but I know I like it. That is all that matters.
