I’ve begun to notice it more and more. Have you? Older men sporting chin hair, from a few days growth to a thick grayish tuft, intentionally confined to the chin, not connected to sideburns. One might describe this fad as ‘ubiquitous’, it’s everywhere.
Growing up, I never saw my father sport a beard, mustache or chin hair. To the contrary, he shaved daily. The buzzing of his electric shaver was a last bit of perfunctory steps before heading out the door and off to work.
On fishing weekends, the gadget was stowed in the car’s glove compartment, readily available for a quick shave. While he may have looked gruff and unshaven on Saturday, by Sunday evening, the stubble was gone. .
As a subscriber of high personal standards, he was not shy about offering me his opinion on an untidy, unkept, unshaven man, especially if that person was one of his employee painters.
“Look, you want to be seen in public looking that way? You want to be that guy?”
That attitude probably explains why none of my four older brothers had facial hair. It wasn’t ’a thing’ in the 50s and early 60s and he would frown upon it in his house.
Nevertheless, pictures of me in the late 70s and 80s show a full beard, an effort to take attention off a balding head. It worked until Father Time began turning the hair grey, then it was gone in a flash and I regained some semblance of youth.
I’m retired now, a few years removed from the shirt and tie,‘dress for success’ brotherhood. And the further removed I am, the more casual I’ve become.
The aforementioned ties hang in my closet as reminders of a strict sales force dress code. Leather soled hoes with cedar shoe trees align on a shelf under pressed button down shirts, both waiting to see sunlight.
A shoe polishing kit and monogrammed toiletry sachel haven’t been unzipped in years, victims of my continued transformation to a more casual and relaxed lifestyle.
I have joined the horde of men who, for whatever reason, are shaving less and covering their chins in a most natural way, with hair. And, we’re everywhere, ubiquitous.
I guess to answer my dad’s rhetorical question…
“Yes,… ‘I’m that guy!’
Steve (July 2026)
To bearded men everywhere and Marcia for urging me to write, again.
S'amusing 