Ginger Magic

I remember being in middle school and high school and looking at college kids, and people in their early 20's and thinking they were soooo old. So grown up looking. So mature and worldly. So... together. Don't worry, this is not going to be an entry on how I don't have my life together (which I don't, I mean please, I'm 23, a temp, single and watching NCIS... besides the '23' park I'm basically a retired man). This is however, a story of a day that changed the way I look at my mortality. And my hair. Mostly my hair.

Let me paint a little picture for you here: Im working at the New York and Company on Lexington and 57th. Im on the second floor. I am folding sweaters. I am filled with a lot of disdain for my current situation. One of my fellow employees in going on about how her friend is not good, something about a birthday, something something BBQ...blah blah. Im doing my best to look like I am listening. After all, she is one of the few girls who was kind enough to learn my name and forgo calling me "white girl." Finally I gather enough information to deduce that it is her 21st birthday that is fast approaching and she is planning on just staying home.
 "Oh no" I say. "You have to go out! Most people only turn 21 once, and after this birthday its all downhill. The next few aren't too thrilling..."
"Really? Yeah... Wait. How old are you?"
"23."
"Oh wow."
"What?"
"Nothing. I mean, its just, you look really good for 23."

I look good for 23?! How am I supposed to look at 23? Like Joan Rivers? Sure, I get mistaken for 19 more than I would like to admit, so I know I look young, but I guess what I didn't realize is, all my friends must look ancient. Sorry guys, I know that you all thought we were in our prime, shoot, I know I did, but it looks as if we are old at 23. Just a few of us are lucky our age doesn't show. But, it turns out I have an unfair advantage sooo... Oh right! I haven't finished the tale. Sorry! Pan camera back! whoosh!

"Thank you? ha....ha?"
"No, I mean, you have really young looking hair."
"oh..."
"Like, its a really young looking shade of red. Very youthful."
"...ah."

Very rarely am I at a loss for words. Normally, if there are words to be found, I WILL find them. But not this time. What does that even mean!? Does red hair age at a different rate than the human its attached to? Does this have something to do with the whole 'gingers being soulless' thing? Are we soulless perhaps because our hair keeps us from aging as normal people do? Is that a side effect of having no soul? A perk, perhaps? Is it 'tuck everlasting' hair?

Sure, there are Gingers who are aging all sorts of well:

                                                 Conan, looks great

                                                        JTF, fab.

                                                     Rupie-Ron. Hott.

But then there is Carrot Top who pretty much just ruins everything:

                                                         Terrifying 

What I am getting at is, now I know that this Thanksgiving season I should be thankful for my magic anti-aging hair that I until recently didn't know I had. I feel as though I have just gone through one of those "time extended" checkpoints on HyrdoThunder, and I can enjoy my youth for far longer than originally thought. But now I can't help but wonder if I lose my power if my hair gets chopped off or dyed... So now I'm nervous that people are out to get me... Unless we are counting the Carrot Top pic and rendering the whole theory null and void. In which case, I will go back to aging at a normal rate.