As a kid I was relayed the old wives' tale that men inherit their hair from their maternal grandfather and, since mine was completely bald by his mid-twenties, I was also likely to lose my hair early in life. Unfortunately for me this turned out to be prescient.
It wasn't quite that bad but shortly into my thirties it was clear I was thinning. I didn't want to believe it at the start, and when this fact was pointed out by a somewhat brash older friend, I grabbed what I still had up there thinking it was evidence he was wrong. He was not. Even if I couldn't initially see for myself the decline continued apace, my forehead slowly getting larger. The last couple years I started changing how my hair was cut, leaving it a little longer on top than I'd ever done before, but I never liked it much. I half-joked on a number of occasions that I should probably start shaving it, but I wasn't ready to let go.
A couple weeks ago I decided it was time. This more than anything was finally accepting reality, my hair wasn't going to suddenly come back and it would only look worse as I aged. I don't want the Costanza look. A small piece was a bit of solidarity with a friend who had a type of brain surgery and was also bald, though temporarily, and I guess that circumstance was the final push I needed. So, because I was nervous about doing it myself and wanted a professional for this life change, I found a better barbershop than Sports Clips (I liked The Barbershop in Apple Valley fwiw) and had someone buzz my whole head with a #1 clipper.
My original thought was to shave it down to the skin. This is the typical method of shaving your head, or so I thought. But before I went to the barber I did some online searching and came across r/bald. I'm glad I did. There are a ton of posts from people just like me considering finally, purposefully, going bald and seeking advice. Multiple commenters recommended going with a #1 blade (1/8") all over instead of immediately turning yourself into an egg(I won't be doing facial hair). My plan was to start there and if I didn't like it keep going. Well, it turns out I liked it.
This shouldn't, in the end, be all that surprising. For most of my life I asked for a straight buzz cut, though then it was a #3 (3/8") or #4 (1/2") blade and certainly longer than it is now. But I've always liked short, short hair. Now it's just so short it's seemingly or actually non-existent in places.
Funny enough that night I ran into another friend who's been (actually) shaving his head for years. He said that maintaining what I'd done would be a real challenge and he didn't think it was worth it. I, admittedly at the time, wasn't sure how I planned to do it and that perhaps I'd end up going that step further. But I wanted to try and figure it out for myself, even if it scared me to a certain extent.
I ended up buying the Remington Shortcut Pro, a neat tool that's easy to hold and use myself, and have now buzzed myself a couple times successfully. Every once in a while I figure I'll still go to a barber or have my wife clean up my neckline but at this point I'm quite happy with how it's going. The first time I again went with a #1 blade and the second time I went even a little shorter (the set has a couple lengths between the #0 and #1). Honestly I think this is a lot easier than shaving and I like the look more too, though I still surprise myself in the mirror sometimes. There's no doubt I'm bald now, but am enjoying having a little shadow of spiky hair where it still grows alright. I'll keep the stubble. Luckily for me my wife likes it too.
Anyway, I may look a little different the next you see me. (Paul Harvey voice) And now you know the rest of the story.
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