h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

Sixteen years ago, I was seventeen and in the Army. I started to grow a moustache to make me look older (the drinking age on base in Korea was 18). Today, I shaved it off.

I was getting tired of trying to keep it trimmed up nicely. The thing is unmanageable. It's especially a pain now because I have to trim it down to military standards every month. They don't want to grow passed a line that goes straight up from the corner of your mouth. That's why guys in the military wear those stupid looking Hitler type moustaches.

I've shaved a few times for brief periods. I also shaved it off for the police academy and once when I was sick.

After you get out of the Army, it's pretty standard to grow a beard, the wilder the better. After about a year, I had trimmed up as nice as I could. Bev and I went to have our Glamourshot made. When we came home, I shaved everything off.

Bev has been against it. She thinks it makes me look too young. I don't know. With facial hair, most people mistake me for being about 10 years older than I really am. I suspect that being sans moustache just brings me back to looking like I'm in my early thirties.

I don't know how long I'll keep it off this time.

I shaved my tace of this morning. It was making me itch and I couldnt get the look I wanted.

I like having a beard too sometimes as it sort of makes people view you with more gravity and sobriety, but it does make you look a bit older.

Its not as easy being a grwon-up as I once thought. (thats why I dont do it often)

Who do you think has inspired you into facial hair?

David Nivens tache was one I always admired and my grandads teddy boy sideburns were preety good too.

My Dad passsed the big 5-0 a while back and decided to remove his beard and later had corrective surgery on his eyes to remove the need for the glasses he'd worn all his life. Former work colleagues occassionally fail to recognise him when he passes them in the shops.

We colletivly refer to Dad's experiment sans facial hair as "Doing a Murtaugh" after the character in the first "leathal Weapon" movie underwent a similar momentous decision on his 50th irthday as well.

Perhaps this is a mini-murtaugh?

My Dad always had a moustache when I was growing up. That's probably where the inspiration came from. His started graying before the rest of his hair, and he shaved it off about the same time I was in the Army.

Mine has since grown back. My wife didn't like the look of it. Things got pretty ugly around the house at the time. She didn't approve of the shaving. Then I bought a laptop the week before my birthday. Come to find out, that she was going to buy me one. She was really mad because I stole her thunder. After that, I was willing to do just about anything to keep the peace.