It's the best, but it's a pest. Some days it makes us feel like an enviable person who has their life together, and other days, well...
There are some situations all naturally curly-haired people can relate to, and there are others that may be less universally-binding. But, the common bond of all curly-headed folk makes us at least sympathetic towards these eight situations.
1. "Wait...is your hair natural?!"
No. No, I wake up extra early every morning to make my hair look like either a million tiny corkscrews or a frizzy mass of fur, depending on the whim of the weather. You know, to make life exciting.
2. "Can I touch it?"
Yes, you may touch it, but please don't leave your hands in my hair for longer than three seconds and please please do not rub my scalp. (Also, to all you who sit behind me in class: permission is necessary before you can play with my hair. Thanks!)
3. Getting compared to a poodle.
Perhaps this is one of the less-relatable situations, but personally, it is a frequent one. Just yesterday my friend pet a poodle's head and said to me "I feel just like I'm patting your head!"
4. "Can I straighten it?"
By all means, try! My personal favorite stage in the straightening process is when the hair has been brushed out and blow-dried, but not yet tackled by the flat iron. One time I had to leave half-way through a hair-straightening session, and suffice it to say a poodle comment at that point would have been an understatement.
5. Getting caught in a bush or a tree because you didn't duck low enough.
I have been caught in a bush for a full two minutes while trying to detangle my hair from the brambles, all because I stepped out of my car unaware of my botanical surroundings. Never again. Absalom, I can relate.
6. Humidity
The obvious one. Monica Geller gets it, and she doesn't even have curly hair to begin with! My trip to Costa Rica this year was extra adventurous, because not only was I battling rainforest creatures and volcanoes - I was battling ocean breeze + humidity (the sum of which is a curly-girl inferiority complex.)
7. Getting a bee stuck in your hair.
Anyone else? I was eight years old, minding my own business on the tennis court when the unsuspecting little thing flew straight into the trap. I don't know who was more traumatized - he or me.
8. "I would give an arm and a leg for hair like that!"
Would you really wanna trade? Curly hair life is stressful, people. Don't make me feel like I need to appreciate it more than I already try to.
But really, this last comment (along with "Your hair is beautiful!") really does brighten our day. Thanks for the reminder that we are LUCKY to have hair this unique and not just burdened by it. I hope all fellow curly heads out there will start embracing the frizz and the hours of toil, and stop envying those who can wake up and be ready to leave the house within five minutes or who can wash their hair past 5:00 pm.
To whom much is given, much will be required. God must have known we could handle the capricious life of curly hair better than the average person.
