When I started working at the HVAC company, no one said anything to me.
It was hard to tell people why I was bald.
I was a twenty-five-year-old woman who had alopecia. I had no hair on my body, and I would not hide it. My father told me that with a little makeup no one would notice the lack of hair, because I was beautiful as I was, and I believed him. The first day at the HVAC company, I thought I heard some snickers from some of the other HVAC technician. I told them that if they’re laughing at me; they had to stop right now. I heard rumors I was bald because I had cancer. Some of them thought I may be bald because of religious reasons, but no one thought about alopecia. I didn’t mind the baldness. I had always been bald. I was born with no hair, and I grew no hair as I got older. My friends said nothing except for when we went to the beach. I had to wear a hat to keep my head from sunburning. My friend laughed at weird hat I chose, but not because I was bald. He was proud to take me dancing or to his family’s house. If he wasn’t ashamed to have a bald girlfriend, why were they laughing at the bald HVAC technician they only worked with? When the boss heard what was happening, he was going to say something. I told him to let it go, because something else would come along shortly and attract their attention, and my baldness would be old news.