Amy Lu's View

I can never, ever, never ever, complain if Chad doesn’t notice if I’ve changed my hair or if I’m wearing some exciting new outfit. 

Two days after Chad recently shaved his beard, I became aware of this only because a friend mentioned it on a Zoom lunch call. In my defense, it’s not like Chad had an extreme lockdown Grizzly Adams beard or anything, so there wasn’t THAT much difference between “Chad with beard” and “Chad sans beard.”

Hmmm, I could maybe sell that argument if this wasn’t at least the third time this has happened in the last twenty years. The first time it happened, Chad thought maybe I was purposely attempting to mess with him. Nope. I just was, and remain oblivious (maybe self-focused/narcisstic is more accurate). 

I mean, Chad is very handsome with and without a beard, so what’s the big deal, right? 

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Actually, I DO remember when I first saw him with a beard: thirtyish years ago when I visited him when he was studying abroad in Costa Rica. He didn’t tell me about the beard before I got there, and between the new look and the setting of a new country (complete with a language I didn’t speak) I was rather overwhelmed and kind of freaked out. 

So my current nonchalance about Chad’s facial hair could be taken as a sign of my current calm and relaxed state. 

Chad claims he didn’t do this on purpose, but he actually shaved his beard on the day that beards had been the topic of our Zoom lunch meeting conversation. The middle-aged plus ladies on the call agreed that we were NOT fans of the currently popular lockdown/Grizzly Adams/hipster beards (thankfully we were all older women and/or lesbians and not likely to date men with said beards) but that Chad and the only other man on the call had very attractive, well-kept beards. 

I could be embarrassed for not giving proper attention to my beloved, but perhaps I should actually get credit for busting gender stereotypes (as the stereotype is that men don’t notice the appearance changes of the ladies in their lives). 

Um, yeah. 

Honestly, I don’t expect or even hope that Chad notices changes in my appearance…I just want him to praise my appearance and remark on my beauty, style and loveliness. I don’t care if he thinks  I look the same day after day–as long as he tells me I look amazing.

In fact, I probably get most annoyed at Chad for being TOO observant–and commenting on aspects of my wardrobe, hair, etc., that are a little off. Or noticing that I’ve changed my outfit several times before leaving the house/logging into the virtual meeting. 

Let’s just say I WON’T be the first to notice if Chad is replaced by an alien/clone/robot that looks more or less like him. Unless said replacement is noticeably complementary…and then I may just decide a little hostile takeover of the world is worth having my ego stroked. 

I WILL be sure to NOT let the replicant on any Zoom calls with observant church lunch folk.