“Look but Don’t Toouch”
For all those out there who, like me, get toouched (umm…just read it, you’ll know what I mean).


This is a public service announcement to all those creepers in America; has any one else noticed that there is a lot? Considering there are so many, you are probably one reading this right now. Be honest, we all do it, if we didn’t why else would we need facebook? Please, “look but don’t toouch”. Ok, now I want everyone to try a riddle. This is kind of hard, try to be in two places at once, if anyone can actually do this please let me know. I want you to look up at that picture in the top right corner, and also read this, because it gives vital information to my story! Now, this curly fro, lions mane, firecracker is what you see right? Can anyone tell me what about this is so inviting and toouchable? I am not an Herbal Essence Model with toouchable locks; rather, just a girl with a frizzy, tangled-up mess. So, I must ask you not to toouch my hair all you people out there. Not you, Grandma from Cracker Barrel’s restroom. Not you, salesman in the mall, or you, and the grade school teacher I never actually had a class with. If you do decide to approach my hair with those little wandering fingers I cannot promise a pleasant face. Usually, I end up in a state of shock.

My hair is not like most other peoples, so I guess I can kind of see the strange fascination. I myself get a little fascinated, considering my mom has brown hair and my dad has blonde hair I don’t get how that equals red. I know that I passed ‘first grade colors’ but still God works in strange ways. Both I and my younger sister have red hair. Hers leans towards a strawberry blonde and it is naturally pin-straight. While mine, is the complete opposite, mouch like our personalities but that is a whole other story. Oh speaking of stories, I have a few I’d like to share.

My first story goes back to the grandma in Cracker Barrels restroom; seems like an odd place right? I thought so too. All right here goes, my family and I were on a typical road trip to none other than the great D-World (aka Disney World not to be confused with Dino word, located in Cave City, Kentucky). As with every great road trip, you need at least one groggy breakfast at a Cracker Barrel. Everything was normal; I ordered the hot, syrupy pancakes that always come with way to mouch butter and chocolate milk with the frosty glass. As I finished my meal I decided to go to the bathroom still half asleep and ready to sleep more in the car. I was finishing washing my hands and out of no where she came up, but the thing so amazing and different that made this experience better than the rest is the fact that ‘granny’ popped right out of the stall and immediately was right up on me. It doesn’t seem that bad but trust me, at seven in the morning it is very frightening. I booked my way out of there as fast as possible.

How does a person feel the need or even the courage to sneak up on random strangers? Once there was a man, oh the salesman actually, he worked in a mall in Nashville, Tennessee. He not only felt my hair, which I guess I kind of expected from the way he was staring at me, but he continued to follow me with his hand running through my hair. It was kind of a fun challenge playing ‘avoid the creep’ the rest of the day with my friends. Can anyone say awkward turtle?

When I considered the thought behind all these people, I figured its all just good intentions. So I tried a little experiment. Both my mother and I decided to approach people and give them complements, on their hair, clothes, etc. I felt as if I had just stepped out of a horror film and I was playing the villain; just a fun fact about me, I hate all things scary and would not last very long in a horror film so I didn’t like this role I found myself playing. People looked at me as if I was going to harm them when I came up. Hey, look it’s me!

I would say, “Hello, I really like that shirt on you.”

Then the ‘victim’, you could say, would say nothing, simply just turn around and walk away, looking back at me as if I was crazy. I would stand there, frozen in shock, my eyes wide, slightly hunched like always, silently just watching her walk away. I felt uncomfortable every time, yet I kept trying, at least for a little while. I don’t actually do this any longer, but it put a new perspective on people creeping on me. I accept everyone now with at least a ‘Thank You’ because these people are going out of their way to give a compliment. Even though it can get repetitive, annoying, awkward, and sometimes just exceptionally weird, it’s still a genuinely nice thing.

Maybe the next time that you’re out you can stop and give a quick compliment, but it’d be nice if you didn’t feel all over them. When seeing someone who is wearing a really cute shirt, it’s not automatically one’s right to start feeling them up. Well, the same rule kind of applies to my head, and the hair that lies atop it. So, further more I would once again like to remind you to ‘Look but don’t touch’.