Someone walked up to me recently and told me that my hair looked awful. He was a perfect stranger who had seen me on TV and thought this was information I needed to know. The fact is, I’m a middle-aged guy whose hair is thinning and there isn’t a whole lot I can do about it – or at least there isn’t a whole lot I’m willing to do about it. Sure, I’ve tried a few hair growth potions and wearing it at different lengths and in different styles, but there’s only so much one can do with a few hundred hairs. Honestly, I’m starting to like my look. It wasn’t one I planned on when I was younger, but it’s my reality now and I’m okay with it. In fact, I’m more than okay with it. I like it. It suits me well at this stage of my life. Besides, there are worse things that could happen to me than thinning hair.
Here’s the part of this story that may surprise you. I wasn’t offended in the least that someone walked up to me and said, “Hey, your hair looks awful. You really need to do something about it.” In fact, I laughed. I mean...who does that? Who walks up to a stranger and tells them that they look awful? I may be hair-challenged, but at least I’m not rude.
I’m in good company having thinning hair. Some of my favorite composers had thinning hair too. The brilliant Camille Saint-Saëns went bald. So did Eric Satie, Jean Sibelius, Aaron Copland, and Modest Mussorgsky. In fact, Mussorgsky even wrote a symphonic poem called, Night On Bald Mountain. It’s a spooky work that we play from time to time on BTPM Classical, especially on Halloween. It’s also part of the famous 1940 Disney musical anthology film called Fantasia. Maybe you remember it. The music is inspired by a legendary barren or “bald” mountain where witches gather to hold their sabbath. I think it’s cool that a bald composer wrote music about a bald mountain.
Look at it this way. If nothing odd ever happened to us, if no one ever said anything obnoxious to us, if we didn’t make mistakes or have mishaps, we’d have no good stories to tell. So, thank you, “Mr. Perfect Stranger.” By telling me that my hair looks awful, you gave me a laugh and a good story to tell!
