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Exactly. Which is why if you make a conscious effort to take care of yourself, you don't have to worry about being past-ripe. You can't do anything about the receding hairline, but as a balding guy, that's honestly not a big deal. I look much better with a #1 buzz than I ever did with hair, and the upkeep is much simpler. Not exactly a "make hay" story but there was this girl who turned me down in middle school who I hadn't paid much attention to in high school and completely lost contact with afterward. When I was about 24 I was in my local neighborhood dive bar and I hear my name and turn to face an unfamiliar blimp. She said her name and I was completely speechless. She looked like a shipping hazard. She told me I looked different (I had long-ish hair at the time) and I was tempted to say "speak for yourself" but wisely held my tongue. Not that a middle school girlfriend would have turned into a lifelong steady, or that 24 is the age when this happens, but man, the possibility is always there, and I felt like I had somehow dodged a bullet a decade earlier.
I had something similar happen to me. Hit on a cute girl in high school and got knocked back. She got BIG and thought I was a sure thing at a party in my 20's. Nope, nope nope.
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I was taking my grandmother to a Perkins pancakes last year and ran into someone, maybe, who I knew. I thought maybe I knew him, but I couldn't be sure. Because it looked like the quarterback from our high school football team, who was also the star pitcher on the baseball team, who I hadn't seen since high school, but holy shit he's a balloon. It's unbelievable. I kept stealing glances at him, but I'm not certain enough to walk over and say Hi Casey, it's FiveHour.
So I went home and had my wife look him up on facebook, and whaddyaknow, it was him.
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