Science and Mirrors
Writing Challenge 2024
Posted by Chris Sissons on Mar 20, 2024
Writing Challenge ยป Chris Sissons
I never dreamed I would get to write about the epicranial aponeurosis. This amazing tendon lies on top of your skull beneath your skin. It steadies your body when your head moves and also absorbs shocks from sudden movement.
Now then, I know about this because I used to teach General Science for Hairdressers (not to be confused with General Hairdressing for Scientists, which is not a thing, cf Einstein).
Hair is the next, optional, layer above your skin. It’s not the only place hair grows but proper hairy hair grows on only certain parts of the body, which I shall leave to your imagination.
I’ve never had a lot to do with hairdressers. They are a strange and eccentric breed. These young women would traipse into the lab, open their box of tricks, and gaze into the mirror inside the lid. Then they would commence to improve their looks while I lectured them on the molecular structure of hair. They were more interested in the mirror than they were in what I had to say.
Don’t get me wrong. They were very friendly and they did notice certain things. For example, one day it was snowing, in the days when snow was deep and so I walked to college in my wellies. They quickly noticed I had them on the wrong feet!
It was hard work. I would ask them to pick up equipment to measure the tensile strength of hair and no one would move. They displayed a modicum of enthusiasm if they were to be assessed for their work.
They asked me how this was relevant to hairdressing. I can’t remember the specific topic but out of frustration, I said I didn’t have a clue. This was duly reported to their senior hairdressing lecturer (a force to be reckoned with by all accounts) and as a result, I said farewell to my hairdressers.
It is important to recall there is one layer above the hair. The hat. I’ve added a photo of a hat in case you are one of the delusional people who think hats are shapeless knitted bags. The purpose of the hat is to hide the fact that you have evaded the attention of a hairdresser. This hat is OK except when the wind blows. It hovers and just as you cross the road it stays behind and falls to the ground. Leaving me on the other side of the road, seeking a gap in the traffic so that I can cross back over and retrieve it.
A little later, I lectured at another college about Computer Science. One day, leaving the college, a young man, spoke to me. “Hello, Chris”. I’d never seen him before in my life. I had but never saw his face. He was among the hairdressers and always sat to one side with his head down. He told me he had given up hairdressing for computers. I’ve never seen anyone transformed so radically. Now he had a spring in his step!
This is Day 4 of Writing Challenge 2024. People all over the world take part in the WC. We write something every weekday for 4 weeks based on a prompt This year, I'll be sharing 21 articles based loosely on prompts about parts of the body. Do we fully appreciate the role things and stuff play in our lives? Each part of the body has certain things and stuff associated with it. (Probably!) I've no idea where this will go but hope you enjoy the journey. The introductory post was Things and Stuff. The last post was Sticks and the next is The Mark of the Beast.
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