The Last Poof

This last weekend the girls and I attended the Biblical Mennonite Alliance convention in Wooster, Ohio, along with over a thousand other similarly minded and lifestyled people. Of course I enjoyed the spiritual input and fellowship with lots of people I knew, and I also had to play Margaret Meade, studying the following groups:

The teenage girls: Wholesomeness is cool--long drapey skirts and lacy little head coverings. Hair is parted in odd little slanted parts and slicked down against the head in ways that my generation would not have done even with hot pokers in our ribs. A hundred young people sang on the stage one afternoon, and I was impressed with the tone of the group, which of course also included:

The young guys: loose and a bit sloppy is the called-for garb, accented by little tufts of chin hair and uncombed locks on top. Then we had:

The chic young moms: I don't know that I've ever seen such a collection of elegant moms. No sloppy jumpers and straggly hair here. Slim young women in tiered skirts and Christopher&Banks sweaters marched in with four and five well-groomed children apiece.

The women my age and older varied from chic and confident to old and tired. I looked over the huge group and came to the startling conclusion that I, in the far West, and way behind the times, and in my hair I have the Last Poof In America. Flat is in, puffy is out.

But this is kind of like Tammy Faye Bakker and her makeup. I like my poof, and too bad for you if you don't like it.

But just before I left, who should I meet but a young lady with a big bouffant reassuring poof in her hair. Yes!!

Quotes of the Day:
"I think if you look around long enough you can still find some of those antique relics."
--Amy, on poofs

"The poof returns to plague a new generation."
--Emily, on seeing the abovementioned young lady and her sisters' lovely poofs