By 13-Year-Old Reporter Alden Roosevelt
Recently, I’ve been thinking about hair. When will I grow facial hair? When I do, will I shave it off or grow a beard? How about a handlebar mustache? A fluffy pair of lamb chops?
I decided I would walk around the Village and find people to interview and ask them these questions about their facial hair. I hope you enjoy it.
Alden and John
Interview with Willie at Commerce Inn.
Q. “So when did you start growing facial hair?”
A. “I feel like it took a while for me to feel like I needed to start shaving, but if I had to guess I would say maybe about eighteen, but it wasn’t really anything substantial, I was just like, ‘I need to shave this off and get it out of the way.’”
Q. “What made you feel like you wanted to grow a mustache?”
A. “During Covid I got really lazy and really tired of shaving, I was like, ‘I don’t need to go into work. I don’t really need to look nice.’ But then one day I decided to shave off my beard, but I kept a mustache as kind of a joke. But then my partner was like, ‘Wow that looks really good.’ So I kept it.”
Q “Did you have any people in your life who inspired you to grow a mustache?”
A “Not really but as a kid, I remember seeing pictures of my dad and he had a big bushy mustache as well as a beard. So maybe that.”
Alden. “OK, thank you for the interview.”
Willie. “You’re welcome!”
Interview with my grandfather John on Commerce Street
Q. “Have you always shaved?”
A. “No, when I was a little baby, they would not trust me with a razor.”
Q. “Did you think you would have a beard when you were small?”
A. “I didn’t think a lot when I was small.”
Q. “Did you ever grow a beard?”
A. “I did try growing a beard once when I went skiing in Snowmass with my wife and didn’t shave for a couple of days. When we got off the ski lift, and I skied up to her, that cute one over there, and I said, ‘Hey, how about a kiss?’ and she said, ‘Not until you shave.’ So guess what I did that day? I shaved!”
Q. “How about lamb chops?”
“Only on the grill. However when I was in The Marine Corps I was already shaving because
I was twenty then. However there were a lot younger people there too. You shaved with a
safety razor and shaving cream and you would not believe how many people had raw, red faces there because they did not know how to shave.
Q. “How do you feel about people who have beards?”
“Some of them look really good. A lot of them look really scruffy. A scruffy look is what
is what people want these days so women will look at them.
Q. “Has anyone in your family had facial hair?”
All my sons, and my brother. Oh, yes and Lois. Lois was a woman. And she had a very
long hair here (indicates chin). And somebody tried to help her and thought it was just a loose hair and yanked on it. And then all of a sudden found out it was not a loose hair!
Alden. “Well, thank you for the interview.”
John. “You’re welcome.”
Thank you for reading this ongoing series about facial hair. If you have any feedback or want to be interviewed about your relationship with facial hair please email me at: altruistworksinprogress@gmail.com. Have a great week!
I’ve been meaning to find out more about Alden ( for a long time now!) after reading his piece in a Monterey Co. newspaper in 2021! It was very interesting! I was trying to find out if he currently has a website or email address. I’m from same area as Alden and I’m the mother of two and grandmother of one. Totally can relate to his message in the 2021 article. Thank you!