White Hair, Black Hair Dye and the BIG Question?

I’ve been coloring my hair since I was in my early 30's.

Here’s why…

Easy-Peasy (We Thought) -

There I was, emerging from the water with my buddies, automatic weapons/surveillance scopes at the ready.

Everything up to this point was going perfectly as planned.

Our HALO (High Altitude, Low Opening) Para-Frog jump, underwater navigation via “toy aqua-jet rigs”, and stealthy, submerged approach was textbook.

We were beginning to think that maybe, just maybe INTEL got it right this time and it was, indeed a “Green Beach” — “Easy-Peasy”.

But alas, the oxymoron called “Military Intelligence” lived up to its name and we got a surprise, hostile welcome.

Flood lights from inland bathed us in blinding yellow light; followed by flashes of white light and the familiar “snaps and whizzes” from gunfire erupted.

We had no choice but to immediately duck under the water.

As we made our way back to our propulsion units, the bullets that penetrated the water and suddenly “fell away” in slow motion dissipated.

We navigated to our extraction coordinates, and got picked up by a helo.

Damn Those Bubbles -

Because of the extreme pressure changes of being expanded (altitude — Free Fall Jump), then squeezed (underwater depth — Submerged Navigation), then normal sea level, then doing everything again in reverse in such a short time, ALL of us suffered pressure related injuries.

I won’t bore you with diving physics (i.e., Dalton’s Law, etc.); but suffice it to say that bubbles tend to form in the body and if not “off gassed” have a nasty habit of lodging in some inconvenient (and painful) places.

Damn those bubbles!

Most of my team got DCS (Decompression Sickness, “The Bends”) and two of us, myself included, suffered from an AGE (Arterial Gas Embolism).

My bubbles decided to plant themselves in the right side of my brain; hence, the paralysis that rendered the left side of my body useless.

The other guy’s AGE bubbles were nastier. He suffered from respiratory arrest, then cardiac arrest. Luckily, our extraction helo crew was equipped with supplemental oxygen, a portable defibrillator, and a VERY SKILLED combat medic (my counterpart/compadre in the Army).

With multiple treatments in the Hypobaric Chamber and intense, unconventional physical therapy, we were all back to full duty in just a few short months.

White Hair -

A few days after the AGE incident, I noticed that my hair was turning grey.

After Hypobaric treatment and a month of physical therapy, I had a full head of white (not grey) hair!

At only 32 y/o, I looked like an Asian version of Julian Assange!

Gradual graying of the hair after 40 y/o is considered the norm due to the decline of melanin production.

The doctor explained that stress causes the loss of hair pigment (melanin) from the hair follicle, but severe stress (i.e., PTSD level stress) can introduce air bubbles in the hair shaft.

Now, all this stuff was neat to know, BUT I was damned if I was gon’na go around looking like a freak; meaning, a baby faced, fit Asian sporting what looked like a short cropped garden of white toothbrush bristles!

To add insult to injury, I discarded my bushy, Geraldo Rivera looking mustache (a great attraction for the Hispanic ladies) because it was already more salt than pepper.

Thank Lord Buddha that my eyebrows remained natural black; albeit a stark contrast with my white hair.

As my 58th birthday is approaching fast, I realize that maybe it is time to abandon the hair coloring routine.

I’m kinda’ divided on this issue.

On the one hand, I can be free of the hair dye ritual.

But on the other hand, I’m sort of used to it.

And lastly, instead of people thinking I am decades younger, they’ll probably think I’m older than my chronological age.

Oh well, I guess I’ll make up my mind on my birthday (the beginning of next year).

I would love to hear your opinions on this; especially from BOTH sides of the gender fence.

By JaiChai

“Really Appreciate You Stopping By. Truly hope to see you again!”

About the Author -

Believing that school was too boring, he dropped out of High School early; only to earn an AA, BS and MBA in less than 4 years much later in life — while working full-time as a Navy/Marine Corps Medic.

In spite of a fear of heights and deep water, he performed high altitude, free-fall parachute jumps and hazardous diving ops in deep, open ocean water.

After 24 years of active duty, he retired in Asia.

Since then, he’s been a full-time, single papa and actively pursuing his varied passions (Writing, Disruptive Technology, Computer Science and Cryptocurrency — plus more hobbies too boring or bizarre for most folk).

He lives on an island paradise with his teenage daughter, longtime girlfriend and two dogs.

“My mind was a terrible thing to waste…” — JaiChai

Originally published at https://www.uptrennd.com.