Boy or Girl?

"I never had long hair before I got busted.

I never had a beard before I got busted."

- Charles Manson, American criminal lunatic (1934- )

During the late 1980's I was sporting quite a plumage of long, rocker hair, and during the winter & spring (ski season) I also grew quite a thick beard. (See above picture)

One day I was at a gas station and I noticed two young kids staring at me intently. Their mother was also getting gas, but she was around on the other side of her car. The little boy must have been about 3 or 4 and the little girl was probably about 7 or 8. They were just staring at me.

I finally said, "Hi, how are you guys doing?"

The little boy turned and whispered something to his sister. She turned to me and said, "He wants to know if you are a boy or a girl?"

A bit flummoxed by this forthright assault on my obvious manliness, I stammered, "Uh... I'm a boy..."

She said, by way of explanation, "He's never seen a boy with long hair before."

"Well, some boys have long hair," I replied, a bit defensively.

"I know," she said. "I've seen lots of boys with long hair."

"Really," I replied. "Where?"

"Oh, places like the dump..."

KJT - Ft. Collins, CO (1989)