This afternoon, I made a quick trip to get my unruly shaggy head brought back into submission, since in the next few weeks I will be having interviews for a possible summer CPE unit. (CPE=Clinical Pastoral Education, or learning about yourself as a pastor and potential work in hospital chaplaincy.)

The shampoo gal says to me, “Gee, good thing you came in. Your roots are really showing. Time for a quick color touch up, huh?”

Me: “Um… No. This is my natural hair color.”

Gal: “Oh. Well, it’s really REALLY gray coming in. You might want to think about getting your hair colored.”

Me: “Oh, I don’t know. I’ve earned every one of them.”

Gal: “Well, you’ll definitely look old, like you’re fifty or something, if you don’t get your gray covered. And we have to keep working to look young in our forties, don’t we?”

Me: “Well, that’s a thought…”

I’m sure she meant well. (And I did not tell her that I left fifty behind a while ago… )