Hair from the heart

I seem to be hearing a lot lately about a program called Locks of Love. First it was in a comic strip called "Zits" — a teenage girl was complaining about how impossible it was to do anything with her long messy hair, and her mother suggested she cut the offending hair off and give it to someone who needs it. The daughter learned that "Locks of Love" makes donated hair into wigs for children who have lost their hair due to cancer or alopecia, and ultimately does sacrifice her ponytail to the cause.

Then, a few weeks later, our priest presented the exact same tale as a true story in his homily. Maybe it was just a coincidence and there are lots of teens crabby enough about their hair to cut it off for the cause; or maybe he doesn't believe anybody in his congregation reads the funny papers. But it was enough to make me want to look into the organization, find the Web site, and think about how I can help.

The fact is, although I am not myself a crabby teen girl, I have been growing my hair out lately. I don't think I've had it cut in more than a year, mostly because the thought of scheduling and actually taking the time to go to the hairdresser fills me with exhaustion. But now, see, I'm not just lazy and unkempt: I'm lazy and unkempt for charity. I figure I've got a good couple of years before my locks will be anywhere near the 10" required for donation, and then I can go for one free trim, have the hair lopped off, and then go back to doing absolutely nothing while my next contribution grows. This is the kind of volunteer work I can really get into.