The secret is out!

I was initially going to keep alopecia a secret from everyone I worked with but it's been slowly seeping out. I was walking home from work one day and it was soooo hot out that halfway home I ripped the wig off. Although I know I shouldn't, I tucked my wig away in my purse on the side of a busy street. Shortly afterwards I ran into a woman I work with and didn't realize she wouldn't recognize me but I said hi anyways and kept walking. About five steps beyond her she turned and out came "CAROL???". I had to laugh then and was like, "oh, right" and had to tell her I have alopecia.

Amazingly she had watched "Shear Genius" and knew exactly what it was and just the other night she was helping me talk to some of the other people at work about it. I had asked her to keep it quiet originaly but for some reason she has been saying the odd thing that would make coworkers wonder what in the heck she was talking about so really it had to come out. Nobody treated me any different the next day, in fact, it was as though the conversation had never taken place. Many of our lovely Home Depot associates are terribly immature so I haven't figured out if their silence is a good one or bad one yet but honestly I don't give a damn. I will still wear my wig to work since it is very customer service oriented but at least anyone who does still want to talk to me will know who I am when they see me outside of work. I don't suffer from dual personality like I used to, trying to distinguish between wig and non wig Carol but rather from dual image, something I'm going to have to get used to.

All in all, I'm glad it got out. It may begin to explain my character to some of these people who just think I'm an oddball. I'm not odd, I'm unique and just think differently than most people. That's all! :)

Views: 8

Comment by Lori Powers on September 3, 2008 at 8:14pm
Yes, excellent! I have worn scarves when I've been in the office with others, but when I wear my new wig, I know there's going to be questions. I'm preparing myself to answer them. I have you as my inspiration.
Comment by Diane on September 3, 2008 at 9:30pm
This is great! Good for you!
Diane
Comment by Carol on September 4, 2008 at 7:13am
Andrea
In response to your reply, yes one can be at risk of losing their job due to alopecia and yes, it is discrimination but it still happens. I don't want to scare you but some people can make difficult situations worse and although they may not fire you because they don't like how you look (cause they'd get in trouble) they can certainly treat you poorly and make you want to quit. I've been there and there's nothing you can even say. I came out of the "alopecia closet" quite a few years ago and wore nothing on my head at all for years until I found it too hard to get a job without wearing it. I hate that I feel like I have to wear a wig but it's just something you have to deal with and at least I don't have to wear it all the time, everywhere. The main thing is that if someone at work sees me while I'm out, they can still recognize me cause they know I don't have any hair. I like that people recognize me for my appearance, it sort of gives me star status. LOL
Comment by JeffreySF on September 5, 2008 at 12:10am
Hi Carol,

I knew people for 15 years on a pretty friendly/social basis and they didnt recognize me AU.

I still run into aquaintences (+) and they have no clue as to who I am....weird.

Jeff
Comment by Majal on April 8, 2009 at 2:13pm
I worked for a cosmetics company recently and when it came time for me to shave my head and get a wig (because my AA had gotten to that point) they warned me that I had still better abide by the "dress code" with my wig, etc. It was ridiculous. They expected me to still put my hair into a specific updo etc.! With a wig! I quit because the discrimination got to a point that I just felt like I could not take.

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