Text message from Rob: Im about to get a haircut.
My response: Good luck!
Rob: I have a hat just in case.
Rob left home a month ago to begin his freshman year at college. I'm guessing that his curly hair, which he likes to wear very short, is starting to look brillo pad-ish. Perhaps it looks scary when he wakes up too late to shower before his early morning class. Perhaps a cute girl is involved.
I love this text. It tells me that Rob has made a new home--he's not waiting to return to Wilmette to get this done. It means he's taking care of himself, paying attention to how he looks. And best of all, it means that even though it's near the end of the month, he still has $20.
Mothers of boys don't get much information, so when I receive a ditty like this, I can't help but extrapolate all the hidden meanings. Over the years, with two tight-lipped sons, I've gotten pretty good at it.
I imagine the possibilities:
At the lunch table in the dorm cafeteria, Rob asks if anyone knows of a barber.
No, scratch that--none of the freshmen know a barber.
How about this:
At a fraternity party, he asks one of the older boys where to get a haircut.
No, boys would never talk about that at a party.
I know:
Some of the freshmen (prompted by the girls) take a bus to the mall. Rob wants to look at some new Nikes, and while he's walking around he sees one of those mall hair salons. His roommate elbows him and says, "You should get a haircut." He walks in and a young woman in her 20's with purple streaked hair says that she can take him. He realizes that he's never had a haircut from a stranger before, but she's kind of cute and he's embarrassed to back out. So he texts me. If it's a really bad idea, he knows I will text back GET OUT OF THE CHAIR NOW.
Yes.
This is what we mothers of boys do. Boys don't confide much, so we have learned, from years of experience, how to take a fact or two and embellish the details.
I really ought to start writing fiction.
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