After months of unemployment and increasing pressure from my wife to get a job before we lose our house, I bit the bullet and applied at a local security firm. They’ll hire just about anyone without a felony record, but you can’t have a beard! So I had to do the “Sampson loses his virility” bit and shaved for the first time in fifteen years.
I HATE IT! My chin feels like it’s been scalped, I have a chin as blue as Homer Simpson’s, and my face looks like I gained 20 pounds. This had better be worth it.
I feel for you buddy . The only time I’ve not had a beard for the last 10years was about 3 years ago and that was because of a trimming mishap. I hated it and couldn’t grow it back quickly enough.
See … with me, I love having a nice smooth face. I understand the feeling of manliness and virility from the beard but I love it when my wife runs her hands and face over my smooth skin … and she is only apt to do that when I am clean shaven!!
Dude, you have my sympathy. I grew a beard back years ago, then met my future wife. She has seen pictures of me without it, and prefers the beard by far.
There are no pictures of me without a mustache, tho. 16 years and counting, there.
I feel for you, my moustache has only 6 days to live. I have to shave it off for a part in a play I’m doing. We are getting paid about $150 to do it, so I guess that’s my price.
I originally grew a beard when I was about 21 because I got sick of being called Ma’am in the stores (Yes, I know I make a damn ugly girl). I shaved it off about 8 years ago. It has been so long since I haven’t had a moustache tht I’m afraid to see what I’ll look like.
Keith
I started growing my beard in March 1980. Thinking that I was in love, I shaved it around Christmas in 1985, but good sense took over and by mid summer the beard was full and healthy again. The moustache goes back to 1972. Mrs Style has never seen me without both.
And it would take something like your plight, Lumpy to make me shave it.
Ah yes, the same thing happened to me. I cut my thumb drastically while I was working as a carpenter’s apprentice. So, not wanting to get the dressing wet, I let my beard grow out. My wife doesn’t like facial hair, but I kept it anyway.
Then, I applied for a job with a pest control company (the job I currently have). They have a no-beard policy, but for good reason. Facial hair traps pesticides, and can be unhealthy. Also, if you need to use a respirator, a beard can prevent a tight fit, allowing airborne pesticides through. So I shaved. My wife is happier, and I’ve never looked back.
Sad that you can’t appear as you want. It’s not without historical precident, though. One of the Russian Czars (forget which idiot it was), had some kind of half-assed idea of making his country more ‘European’ and commanded that beards be shaved. Until then, Russia was a pretty hairy country. When he finally croaked, everybody heaved a sigh of relief and shelved their razors.
I guess I’m fortunate. Mine’s been on over 30 years and hasen’t even been trimmed in the last 15 or so. My top lip’s been hidden for over 40.
Sorry Lumpy, I know how you feel. For some reason I shaved mine in May and immediately decided I had to grow it back. Only 3/4 of an inch left before its the same length as before and I can’t wait until it gets there.
I’ve never understood the purpose of trimming. Well, I guess it’s for those who want beards for fashion reasons but prefer the tidy look and what not. But for me, the main attraction of having a beard is not having to shave, and that damn well includes trimming (What? Me lazy? Well, yeah, but I’m convinced that’s a good thing). I usually just let my beard go until I can’t take it anymore, and then shave it all off and repeat the process. At the moment I haven’t shaved in about nine months, and I look like a Yukon prospector. I do think it might be about time for it to go, especially since it has been getting hot around here, but so far I’ve been holding off on it.
My facial hair is so spotty, I can’t even grow a beard. And I’m 26! How embarassing. I have, however, had a goatee almost continuously for the last six years. I trim it occasionally, although at one point it was about four inches long and braided. I had always kept my upper lip clean shaven until recently. I didn’t think I could grow a decent mustache, but after not shaving for a couple weeks it started to look good, so I left it alone.
It’s a bit of a shock to change one’s appearance so drastically, I’m sure. Best of luck in the job hunt, too.
