Trying New Things

Learning from Olivia Rodrigo

My favorite place in the world to run, Chattahoochee River National Recreation Area near Sandy Springs, Ga.

It was last Saturday afternoon. I was sitting in the chair at the barber shop where I get my hair cut, listening to the stylist tell me a story about her husband. She had almost finished when I heard something… unusual.

“Hm,” she said, not saying anything for a moment or two.

You know that sound, when someone’s a little surprised by something? “Hm.” That’s exactly how it sounded.

I looked in the mirror, a little puzzled, as she took a long look at what from the reflection appeared to be the side of my head.

“Hmmmmmmm….” I heard, a little longer pause. And then she spoke up.

“We’re gonna wax those ears, right, honey?”

Inside, my ears perked up. What? I thought to myself… what do you mean, wax my ears? What exactly even is that?

But then, I assured myself, this must be something new they’re doing. And every customer is probably trying it out, right? So what could be the harm?

“Sure, sure,” I said, acting like I’d done this a thousand times. “Let’s do it.”

And with that, she walked to the back of the barber shop, leaving me alone for a couple of minutes to ponder whether I’d made a huge mistake or not. Just when I was starting to re-think things, I saw her walk back out toward me, pushing a small cart with a machine on top.

This, I’d learn, was the wax machine — the machine that warms it up and keeps it hot, right before it gets applied to your skin.

The stylist opened it up and took what looked like a popsicle stick and dipped it in the warm, pinkish wax, curling it around a bit before she let a drop or two fall back in. Then she brought it over and — gently, to be sure! — set it just inside my ear.

“Wow,” I said, reflexing at the hot substance. But again, I’d never experienced anything like this before, so… I was a little antsy. (Maybe more than a little!)

She dipped a few pieces of tissue-like paper in the wax and applied them to the outside of each of my ears, and then dipped another popsicle stick in, pulling it out and then placing it in my other ear.

Friends, I wish I’d had the presence of mind to snap a photo of myself sitting in that chair: a pair of popsicle sticks protruding from each ear, both draped in wax-soaked paper. If only you could’ve seen me!

Of course, if you’ve ever had a wax, you know what comes next.

“OUCH!” I actually didn’t say it out loud, but I felt myself wince a little each time she ripped away a piece of the waxy paper. And ripped again, and again, and again.

Finally, she was done. I felt a wave of relief and breathed a little sigh; I think she noticed, as she said, “I know you probably weren’t expecting that when you walked in here, but I just couldn’t let you go out of here today with those little fuzzies.”

Now, I know sharing all of this with you may be a little… odd. (Just a little while ago, I told my wife I was writing a newsletter about getting my ears waxed and she gave me a quizzical “hmmmm….”)

But… sometimes you just have to shake things up, even the small things. Sometimes you gotta try things you never have, you know?

If you remember the famously hilarious episode of Seinfeld titled “The Opposite,” then you remember Jason Alexander’s George at the coffee shop, stopping himself after he realizes he’s ordered his usual — tuna on toast, with coleslaw and a cup of coffee — one too many times:

“Yeah. No, no, no, wait a minute, I always have tuna on toast. Nothing's ever worked out for me with tuna on toast. I want the complete opposite of on toast: Chicken salad, on rye, untoasted ... and a cup of tea!”

To which Julia Louis-Dreyfus’s Elaine sarcastically replies, “Well, there’s no telling what can happen from this.”

I know, I’m laughing too. (I love that episode.) And the thought must have been on my mind over the past week, because I stumbled on something else that’s new and fun, that I haven’t been able to get out of my mind: Olivia Rodrigo’s new album, you seem pretty sad for a girl so in love.

A friend of mine at work recommended it. “Just give it a listen,” she told me. Had it been any other time, I would’ve dismissed it. “This is for someone my daughter’s age,” I’d have told myself. I have loads of music from my own generation to listen to, right?

For some reason, though, I said, “why not?” So I found the album on Spotify, pressed play, and listened to the first song, “drop dead.” (Which is amazing.) And then “stupid song,” and “honeybee,” and on and on and on.

When I made it to the end, I realized what all the fuss is about — the energy, the emotion, the ecstatic-ness of what I was hearing. It all hit home.

The album made me think: when was the last time you came across something — a book, a movie, an album, an artist — that totally surprised you, in a good way? That moved you, even if you didn’t quite understand the lyrics?

I had a feeling I might not be the only person who’s reacted this way, so I shared my thoughts on Threads and found there are plenty of people out there my age who fell in love with the album too, in an unexpected way:

I mean, just read the comments in that thread — it was just the coolest thing to stumble across this little subculture of people my age who are into the music, getting joy out of something completely unexpected.

This post has already come to a place where it’s long enough, so I’ll sign off. As silly as it is — and believe me, it’s not lost on me how silly this post is! — I think we need things like this.

The world’s pretty heavy right now. Really heavy. We need little moments like this, if only for a short relief. The world comes inside our doors often enough; I think it’s okay to shoo it away sometimes too, and just have fun.

I hope you’ve had a great week and have had some great runs out there — as always, keep in touch and let me know how your running/life is going 😊

Your friend,

— Terrell