On trying to look futuristic



So for a while now I've had pink hair. I like it because it makes me feel like I'm from the future. Except for the time I spend every few weeks bleaching my hair (so the pink shows up) and then adding the temporary dye, I like to pretend that it just sort of grows this color. Like maybe I'm genetically enhanced.



When I lived in Brooklyn, tough-looking guys in my neighborhood would give me puzzled looks and ask "Is that natural?" But I think they realized it wasn't even before they asked. With little kids though, it's different. Walking through Times Square, kids would point at my head as if I were a bright colored tourist attraction. Even in the Village, where you'd think kids would be used to wacky hair colors, children would see me and get distracted. Once I was waiting for the subway and I heard a little girl nearby asking her dad, "Can hair grow that color?" I explained that I use dye to make it pink, and her dad looked seriously annoyed that I (a pink-haired freak) was talking to his child.



Today in Target, for the first time, my hair color got a little girl in trouble. I was looking at the discount bathing suits when I heard a woman yelling at her child, "Why did you leave my side? I told you to stay right here!" I looked over and saw that the little girl was staring at me as if she were under a spell, and pointing at my head. She had a look of complete confusion, and wasn't listening to her mother at all. Her mother didn't notice me; she never looked where the girl was pointing. She grabbed the girl's hand, still berating her about not paying attention, and headed for another section of the store. Meanwhile, the girl was half turned around, not wanting to take her eyes off my hair, and pointing at me with the other hand. The look in her eyes is what got to me. It was like I didn't make sense in her reality, and her brain didn't know how to process it. Maybe I should've run up and said "It's just hair dye! Don't look so confused!" Or maybe I should've said "Don't be scared. I'm from the future. I just came back in time to pick up some Target-brand dish soap and a $4.99 bottle of wine."