Dear Readers and Poll Takers,
Well, the day has arrived. All of the votes have been cast and counted. (There were no problems with chads clinging questioningly to any of the ballots. Thank you Florida voters for getting it right this time.) Here are the results.
39% voted ya mon, don’t worry
21% voted yes to prove BYU can out class the U of U
33% said that I would be lacking in wisdom to go in the flaming glory of braids (which wouldn’t be anything new– the lacking of said wisdom!)
6% were worried about my job and thought it best for me to be conservative and go with my normal ‘do’
If you add up the yes votes, that totals 60%.
The no votes add up to 39%.
Maybe I need to take remedial math. 60% + 39% = 99%. My question is: where are the other 1% of the voters? Maybe I messed up in how I set up the poll. Maybe I messed up in adding the numbers.
New math equation: Nina’s brain + using new technology = mass confusion. My children are probably rolling their eyes right now because they know the answer does not lie in me needing remedial math (which would be extremely beyond my capabilities). They know the answer lies with the new math equation . . .
Before I tell you what my final decision was, let me share with you an e-mail that I received from a dear friend who not only teaches at Springville High School where I, too, used to work, but she also share the same birthday as I. (However, we do not share the same IQ — they are vastly different with hers being far superior to mine . . . ) Here’s what she wrote:
Nina,
How do I miss these life altering events? I didn’t even know you went to Jamaica, let alone the braids. But I wish to tell you two things. I voted, but more importantly, take the braids out right now!! This braiding of “white women’s” hair will only cause it to fall out.
There is a reason braiding trends exist among women of African descent. Their hair can tolerate this, yours cannot. One of my students went on a humanitarian trip to Kenya and got her hair braided only to lose some of it in small clumps when she took the braids out. I am hoping for the best regarding your hair and your presentation.
Priscilla
Boy howdy! This put a totally different dimension to my dilemma. Now, the dilemma is: take out the braids, have my normal hairstyle with possible clumps of hair missing. Braids or clumps of missing hair?
While I don’t mind looking weird and unusual (as is my daily normal persona) I do have my limits. Shocking, I know, but true.
Thus, I decided to keep the braids in. Bald may be beautiful (as in my husband) but patchy baldness isn’t my idea of a good time — unless I were a cancer survivor.
Brooklyn, I will take a picture of what my hair looks like when I take my braids out. However, I will NOT come to work that way. Once again, I do draw the line . . . . sometimes . . . I’ll probably post the picture here. For those of you who have incriminating evidence against me, blackmailing me with the threat of putting that picture on YouTube would definitely fill your pockets will financial remuneration. But hey. The way the economy is going, you wouldn’t get much . . .
So, I’m off to Salt Lake City — in all my braided glory.
(P.S. Yesterday, my boss limited my presentation. To one minute. All this angst for nothing. No problem, mon!)