The Comb-over

My father-in-law has the worst comb-over you can ever imagine. It runs from just above the ear on one side to the other side. My wife and I talk about it every time the family gets together. I can’t believe that anyone wants to look so foolish. How do he not see what is so clear for everyone around him? How can I tell him just to cut it short and join the bald man’s fraternity of normal looking balding men.

These comb-over styles start when there is just a little thinning, and as the thinning gets worse, the side hairline creeps down ever so slightly year after year and the hair grows longer and longer on the parted side of the head. The man who is inadvertently migrating to the comb-over never notices the end look. He is watching it so slowly that he blocks any vision of the look everyone else can see. You can see it and everyone else can see it, but a classic case of denial is fully deployed in such people.

I have seen many men in my office that employ the comb-over that progressively works less well for them over time. Men like your father-in-law rarely come to the office. When I get to see them on the street or in airports , I want to go over and tell them what I can do for them to help them solve the problem – but that would not be ethical of me, like ambulance chasing. Your wife (his daughter) could approach him, but be sure that your mother-in-law sees this as a problem before the ‘talk’ or you could be heading off of a steep cliff.