Don't Let the Sides Burn

   Attention to detail is important. Making a federal case out of every little thing- not so much. Through writing I have romanticized my lone season at the resort. There were many wonderful things and magnificent colleagues. There were also corporate policies and selective enforcement that did not inspire a second season.

   As if there isn't good and bad in everything. I have never grown sideburns. Never even thought about it. There is a place where my head hair ends and facial hair begins. Occasionally I grew a beard but not at the resort. That was against policy. One could grow a mustache if they were off work long enough to come in fully.

   Many men arrived with mustaches. Giving me one week off I grew a mustache and all hell broke loose. It was within the rules and arguing over things as silly as this- it's no accident my next work sabbatical was called Rehab. In the next opportunity there were no strange policies about facial hair. At least no one walked around with a ruler deciding sideburns were too long.

   No one grew sideburns below their ears. They had to be halfway up the ear. Not fifty-one percent- sheesh. With the scrutiny one would think we looked like John Quincy Adams.

   Which brings me to Movember. That is a charity for awareness to men's health issues. If you are growing a mustache this month: give to charity, get a checkup and get involved. It's not an excuse to not shave. My tenure at the resort predated this and a second season would not have justified it, especially because it happened in Melbourne, Australia.

  When you are clean shaven and management says you aren't- shouldn't they have devoted their time to more productive endeavors? All I wanted to do was work. Setting up bars and assisting the bartenders and guests were my main thrust. I wasn't derailed by interpretations of policy but they could have taken a better course of action.