Following a trend, by accident

I don't consider myself as being trendy. In fact, in retirement, I am the antithesis of trendy.

Since I don't go to an office anymore to go to work, I don't concern myself too much with the latest trends in ties or other office wear. My home office wear tends to be my pajamas until about 9:30 in the morning.

I was once trendy. Back in the days of Nehru jackets I had one, and the trendiness that followed was mostly in the fashion of what I wore to the office -- pants, jackets, shirts, ties. It was corporate trendy.

I don't think of myself as being trendy at all any more.

So, how is it that I've become trendy by having a goatee? Totally by accident, it turns out.

That news of my new-found trendiness comes from The Daily Beast, the online product of trend maven Tina Brown, late of Vanity Fair.

The cool people in today's society apparently have goatees -- actor superstar Brad Pitt, basketball superstar Kobe Bryant, and television news superstar Chuck Todd just to name a few.

Said The Daily Beast post: "Now the goatee has become the Gap T-shirt of beards. The New New Goatee can be worn at home or at the office, by the hip and unhip alike, signifying, well, just about anything."

I happened upon my goatee for the simple reason that I decided I just didn't want to shave as much anymore when I after my retirement back in June of 2008. I just got lazy.

Every morning, as part of the get-ready-for-work ritual, I shaved.

I'd been shaving for a long, long time ... since about sixth grade, given the werewolf genes among the male members of my family.

I started with a blade, then went to an electric razor for a while, then went back to a blade, always anxious for Gillette to come out with its next best thing -- the double blade, the triple blade, the quadruple blade, complete with pulsing head.

But when I stepped away from the office, I also wanted to step away from the routine that had so defined me for more than 30 years.

I didn't want to worry about whether my shoes matched my belt, whether my socks matched my shoes (or each other), whether my tie was sufficiently in style, whether my button down shirts were ironed, and whether my face was shaved or not.

What I found through my laziness, is that there's a certain gravitas to the goatee.

My mother says it makes me look 10 years older.

It is black flecked with gray ... or gray flecked with black. But I like it because it makes me look wise, much wiser than I really am.

I've earned my elder statesman status, by accident or not.