Thanks for all those great comments, I posted that picture from my phone but I wanted to update you guys on something that also happened yesterday...

As you may know I am a graduate student and will be graduating next year which means I need to start looking for a job this fall because with the academic cycle you need to apply, interview, and then move before the next school year. Anyways, an important part of networking as a student is presenting your research at conferences where you can meet other people to collaborate with, who are interested in your work, and may recommend you for positions at their schools. I have a conference coming up this weekend at Yale in Connecticut but I realized I ran have any business cards so I was looking around for some perforated print out business card sheets we used to have but couldn't find them. I went upstairs to talk to my buddy who is in a different office which is a wide open space with adjacent individual offices. He didn't know where the sheets were either but was suggesting I go print them out at Kinkos and I thought that was a great idea. Then I hear the voice of a woman coming from one of the offices and she starts telling me how I am not supposed to print cards with our school logo on it and I would have to use the University print shop. I already know that the print shop does not do this for students and I let her know that I dont have the logo on my card but that I would look into it...

Then as I am walking away she asked "why do you need them, are you going to a conference?" so I said "yeah I am headed up to Yale this weekend." she said "are you trying to get a teaching job?" I said "yeah, I am a PhD candidate graduating next spring and will be applying for jobs this fall" then she said "aren't you gonna shave?" I said no and with a smile on my face, cupped my hand around my beard and said "it makes me look more professorial" and then with an absolutely straight face she said "no it doesn't, you won't get a job if you look like that"

Then later that day my other friend went up to talk to friend one and the lady started asking who I was how I got in the building. Then she started telling friend two (who is a lady) that I was crazy if I thought I could get a job "looking like that" and so on...

Now, I am not one to judge, but this woman was pretty overweight and I didn't start the conversation by saying "how'd you get this job? I am surprised they would hire someone who looks like you for this position." And further it is not like I have a weeks worth of patchy stubble or that this thing on my face is an accident that I didn't happen to notice, like a booger hanging out of my nose. It is pretty obvious it is intentional, otherwise I would have some sort of mental problems if I missed the fact that there is more hair on my face than most people have on top of their heads. Now admittedly this was a normal day at the office so I am just in khaki shorts and a t-shirt and my beard was combed out without being brushed down, as you can see from the photo, so I wasn't as dapper as when I balm it up and put on a nice suit and a slick pair of shoes, but that wasn't the point this woman was trying to make...

As a bearded fellow I get a lot of nice comments from complete strangers, and I don't recall a single person telling me my face looked nice when I walked around clean shaven. It is a great icebreaker and it makes me stand out in a crowd, both of which are super helpful at a conference where there are hundreds of people all doing interesting things. My friends and I all thought the lady a bit crazy but it is hard to shake that level of hate...

You guys are great, I love the board and it simply wouldn't work without everyone who makes up the community...

Thanks,
Troy

Neck warmer, extinct megafauna, punching bag, crumb catcher, built-in sunscreen, napkin, air filter, girl repellent, woman attractant, facebook fodder, grease trap
- - -
-My Beard Journey (or How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Beard)
-My homemade beard balm recipe!
Last Edited By: Throttle Jun 11 15 1:05 PM. Edited 1 times.