Good Genes Or Good Docs?

Raymond, the Filipino hairdresser who was cutting my hair for the first time, seemed to be surprised at not finding any strand of grey hair on my head. The friendly person that he was, the conversation turned to my job, how long I'd been doing it, my family, and so on, and eventually, he was able to guess my age. I make no bones about my age and we discovered that we were actually both closer in age. It was then that he expressed his incredulity at the absence of any grey in my rather thin mop of hair, considering my age. He asked me if I needed to color my hair, and when I said I'd never colored my hair in my life, and certainly didn't intend to now, his surprised exclamation made the other ladies in the salon turn their heads and congratulate me. "Wow," they went, "Is that your original hair color? Beautiful! Congratulations! You're so lucky!" etc., etc.

I have always taken my black hair for granted and never given it a second thought. The reaction of the others now made me wonder if I were supposed to be proud of it. I wasn't too sure, actually. How can I take credit for something that I have no control over, I thought. It had to be the genes my parents passed on to me, so "Thank you, Mom and Dad!" I silently muttered, as I got out of the salon, rather embarrassed at all the attention my hair had garnered. The truth of the matter is, when you look around and see the images of airbrushed perfection everywhere, you realize the extent that people go to in order to hide their age or diminish a defect or set aright a perceived flaw in their bodies. Cosmetic procedures are so ubiquitous these days that it is difficult to differentiate who has had one and who hasn't.

The twenty-something brothers I know are rapidly losing hair and are contemplating a hair transplant, several of my Asian friends have had double eyelid surgery, some of my students have openly talked about their nose reshaping surgery, others have had breast augmentations, breast reductions, liposuction, tummy tucks, face lifts, etc., etc. Botox seems to be the latest fad of the day, and when there's no time to be nipped and tucked, people prefer to be botoxed day in and day out. A quick lunchtime dart to the mall, the whipping out of the Botox Gift Card the husband or boyfriend gave for the anniversary, a shot here and another there, and one is free to get back to work 10 years younger and wrinkle-free!

Appearance certainly maketh the man these days, and who cares if it's good genes or good docs! Noone basically knows the difference. Would I get nipped and tucked or botoxed for that matter? I don't think I will. In fact, my dermatologist gave up on a rather stubborn patch of melasma on my face and recommended me for a chemical peel a year ago, but I'm still sitting on the fence about it. If I can't muster enough courage for a simple cosmetic procedure, I don't think I'll ever go under the knife to improve my appearance. So what you see of me now, my friends, are good genes and not good docs!!!