Tuesday, December 20, 2011

Does She...Or Doesn't She?

Larry and I went to an honest-to-goodness cocktail party on Saturday.  Oh, yes, we did.  Many of my friends and acquaintances were there, and I sat down next to Cheryl, the lovely lady who teaches my David (along with other homeschooled teens) the basics of high school biology and chemistry.  Needless to say, I adore her.  She greeted me with "Oh, I love your hair! Did you just get it done?"

"Yes! Thanks, I like it, too!" [Oh, wasn't I smart to schedule that hair appointment in time for the party?]

She continued gazing at me.  "That color looks really good."

[Oh, dear, does she think I had it colored, or is she just complimenting my natural shade?  Let's move past this.  Quickly.]  "Thanks!"

Let me note here that I have never known Cheryl to simply blurt out the first thought that comes into her mind.  Ever.  Her naturally reserved demeanor makes me feel as though I am a chattering magpie.  And yet here she was now, continuing to stare at my hair while saying, "Have you had it colored before?"

[What now?  I could lie and let her save face.  But the truth will out.]  "Actually, it's not colored - it's just my normal shade. The encroaching gray looks like highlights!" I ended with a disarmingly lighthearted laugh meant to communicate amusement and a complete absence of umbrage.  [There! That should do it.]

But no.  Still eyeing my hair, she took a page out of my own foot-in-mouth playbook by asking, "Are you sure?"

Um, yes.  Yes, I'm sure.  I'm way too cheap to pay for color treatments.  But I didn't say that.  I just stuffed my mouth full of canapés and nodded amiably.  Because, you know, it's not every day I get to go to a cocktail party.

[Clairol Ad image: I Am Grateful]

14 comments:

  1. I'm a little green here, and it isn't my hair (which is naturally turning quite gray near the temples and on top, too). Because I've actually met you and you did have great hair color, and to think that you STILL do? well, I'm a bit green. Enjoy it! My mom had hair like that, but sadly, neither my sister nor I inherited that gene.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Ha! And this is why I'm afraid to say anything to anyone...I'm the one who's wondering if someone is pregnant, when she's not. Better to stay quiet.

    I've been going grey since my late 20s, although it really picked up speed after my second was born. I am often shocked when I look in the mirror, because I don't picture myself as grey as I am.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Maybe she thinks some michievous faries dyed your hair when you were sleeping. What else have fairies got to do anyway...

    ReplyDelete
  4. I freely admit that I'm too cheap to pay for any coloring.

    Just notice how I sign my real name.

    ReplyDelete
  5. People have been known to get color envy--how nice for you to be on the receiving end!

    ReplyDelete
  6. LOL! I've gotten this too. Only the person asked 'what I use on my hair', and I gave them a really confused look and said, 'shampoo?'.

    ReplyDelete
  7. Phew! Glad you're first-in-a-while cocktail party didn't get too hairy!:)

    ReplyDelete
  8. This post made me snort my coffee! Btw, you do have great hair.

    ReplyDelete
  9. How weird lol.

    Everyone is always shocked when I say I don't dye my hair too. I'm almost 38 and occassionally get a gray strand that I can pull out (that I can see anyways). I expected to be fully dyed blonde by this point (I'm a brunette)

    ReplyDelete
  10. When I was 36 I got asked if I were the mother of the bride. I figured if I didn't dye my hair after a question like that, I never would, so for seven years I put up with that whole routine. I finally figured out that what I didn't like about aging hair is that most women cut theirs really short in middle age for reasons I don't get. Quit dyeing it, grew it out to where I wanted it ahead of the long-hair fad going on now, and I get much more positive feedback than I did when I dyed it. But wow did it start growing back in really white at 50 after I was really sick in the hospital.

    (My dad started going gray at 14. I wasn't quite that bad!)

    ReplyDelete
  11. I think she really meant, "are you lying to me?"

    ReplyDelete
  12. I'm glad you got to go to a real grown up party!

    ReplyDelete
  13. Oh, our hair...I so envy you not coloring. However, not enough to give up coloring my own. I started to go grey in my late 20's, with a lovely 1/2 inch white streak right in my bangs. No way. I'm not sure I'll ever embrace going grey.

    I always justified getting my hair cut and colored once a month by cutting everyone else in the family's hair. Think of all the money I was saving us!

    ReplyDelete
  14. That is so, so funny! Honestly and truly someone I saw at Christmas time, that I had not seen for a year if not better, complimented me on my blond highlights...and, ummm, it was really just my grey too!

    ReplyDelete