premature aging..

when i was 17 i found a gray hair on my head. just one. it was kind cool back then, actually. i had long, curly hair and on the left side if you looked closely you could see it, nestled in the mix of my curls. it was kinda distinguished looking in a indira gandhi kind of way. and yes, i was completely kidding myself with that notion. actually, there's an old wives tale in bangladesh about how if you have premature gray hair, it means that your mother loves you more than your siblings. believe that one if you will but my ma is an equal opportunity parent.

when i got to college, this guy who had a crush on me came by one day and said "ooh look.. gray hair!" and proceeded to yank it right out of my scalp. needless to say i was livid and if he even thought he had a chance of winning my affection i put him out of his misery that day. i mean, who does that?

at any rate, of course it grew right back and is still there. only it's shorter now. after a fresh hair cut it sort of pokes out and waves hello to passersby but once my hair grows out a bit it sort of goes back into hiding, but if you look closely you can still see it.

well, a couple of weeks ago i noticed that it made some new friends. they're coming out of nowhere and multiplying when i'm not looking. c says she saw them a long time ago, but clearly i don't have eyes in the back of my head so i've apparently been blissfully unaware for a while now. according to c, i've got about seven of these rugrats on the back of my head and i personally can count about five of them sprouting out from either side of my scalp. that's twelve for those of you keeping track. sometimes i joke around and tell c that she's causing me to go prematurely gray and she retaliates by saying i'm causing her to have premature wrinkles (this after she noticed her first facial wrinkle where the start of her nose meets her forehead).

anyway, i suppose i don't really have an issue with it. i mean, i've never pictured myself dying my hair or anything to cover up the inevitable gray. i guess i just have issue with it popping out so early. it is early right? i mean, i'm only 31. [only she says..]

oh well, i suppose there's no running from it. i'll just have to look forward to my salt & pepper days.

[..push it real good..]