Every Day is a Bad Hair Day

I have never been photogenic.  For one thing, most of my days are bad hair days.  On days that are not bad hair days, I have hideously “un-good” hair days.  I would consider shaving my head, but I think my head has a somewhat conspicuous perfume-bottle shape underneath what is left of my gray mop.

I have also never liked my smile.  My teeth are not pretty.  When I complain about my teeth to my dentist she always says: “You have beautiful teeth!”  I think what she means is that they are something like a savings account for her—there is always work to be done.

For several years, I developed a habit of tilting my head to the right the instant a camera was trained on me.  Everyone in my family noticed this when we looked through photos from family gatherings.  “Why do you tilt your head like that?” my sister once asked me as we were looking at some snapshots from a road trip across Montana.

“I don’t know, Deb,” I answered, “Something about having my picture taken.  It makes me uncomfortable.  I do that subconsciously."

Over the years, I have destroyed hundreds of photos of me (negatives, copies, and electronic files).  Today, I am posting a photobomb from last week to show you what I am up against.  Also pictured is my sister, Deb, someone’s hand, and my beautiful young friends Randy, and Melissa.

As you have likely surmised, the photo was taken with my twice-as-smarter-than-me phone.

--Mitchell Hegman