Why Men Don't Know How Bald We Are

Some men go bald. Some do not. I, myself am heading that way and have been for some time. I wasn't always okay with it, but I have certainly come to terms with it. First you get the tell-tale widow's peak, or you notice the sun on the top of your head a bit more on hot days, or when you are frustrated, you run your fingers through your hair and it is much easier than it was earlier in your life. Notice any of these signs and you are probably going bald, too.

I noticed it happening to me while my hair was long and have been progressively cutting my hair shorter until I finally gave in fully re-embraced the buzz cut.

However, it wasn't until I was looking at pictures that I noticed the full extent of the baldness.



I was looking in the mirror, which of course isn't magical and only reflects that which is directly in front of it. Well, the angle doesn't quite get all the way back to that spot I circled in the picture above.


(My widow's peak is higher on one side than the other for whatever reason. Baldness doesn't care about symmetry.)

Then I got to thinking "how long has it been like this?" So I did some asking around and the general answer was "I thought you knew" and besides, nobody wants to really be like "hey you're getting real bald there dude" anyway, so even if they thought I didn't know, they probably wouldn't have told me.

How many countless others has this happened to? Is there an epidemic of people who have a higher percentage of baldness than they think? It can lead to some nasty situations.



Notice the woman's hesitation, because she sees this:



And then 8-10 months later:



When really:



I don't really know what the solution is, to be honest. Perhaps we can all stop those who have the spot at the back and say "excuse me, but were you aware that you have a bald spot appearing on a part of your head you might not be able to see in a regular mirror?"; or maybe those of us who notice that we are starting to go a little thin can put mirrors on the wall opposite the mirrors we look in to keep tabs on things back there.