Page 16 - COBH EDITION 20th DECEMBER DIGITAIL VERSION

‘Toupee or not toupee???’ - Trevor Laffan

My five-year old grandson pointed to the top of my
head one day and he told me that I had no hair. He
doesn’t pull any punches that guy. He wasn’t con-
cerned about my feelings, but I couldn’t argue with
him because he was spot on.
Mother Nature, Father Time and my gene pool have
determined my current state of baldness and what-
ever way you look at it, I am bald. My hair has left the
building.

I don’t know when the process began exactly but it
was certainly a long time ago, probably when I was in my early thirties. I didn’t just
wake up one morning to find my head on the pillow next to me, it was a gradual
thing.

I have no idea where I inherited this gene from because my late father had a fine
head of hair on his death bed as did his father before him. My mother wasn’t bald
either so it’s a bit of a mystery.

Fortunately, it has never bothered me and on the positive side, there are some
advantages. I can cut what’s left of it myself with an electric razor and it only takes
a few miniutes. It doesn’t cost me anything and I can do it at home, so I don’t have
to queue up in a barber shop.

On the other hand, the winters can be a bit of a challenge. Some say we lose a
large amount of body heat through the top of our heads, although that has been
disputed, but in any event, I compensate on those days, with a woolly hat and the
problem is solved.

There are others though, who consider baldness to be almost as serious as losing
a leg. I have seen grown men in complete distress at the thought of shedding their
hair and the sight of a grey strand is enough to bring some to tears. What’s all the
fuss is about?
Our bodies change as we get older. We get more round, our eyesight deteriorates,
and we don’t hear as well as we used to. It happens, so just get over it and play the
hand that is dealt to you.

Hair is an obsession for many though. Brazilian footballer, Neymar, reportedly
spends about two thousand euro a month having his hair done which amounts to
24,000 euro per year. Given his sale by Barcelona for 225 million Euro, money won’t
bother him too much.

The actress, Jennifer Lopez, has her own hairstylist and his fee comes to $400 a
week. Jennifer Aniston, of Friends fame, forks out $600 per haircut while the singer
Rihanna reportedly needs almost a week of continuous hair care at a cost of almost
$2,000 a week.