‘No Shave November’, What We Learned

Back on the 1st Day of November my pals Alan Helgeson, Adam North, & I embarked on No Shave November at Al's suggestion. It's a promotion to get dudes to stop shaving in an effort to bring awareness to men's health issues.

In my situation, it was indeed a conversation starter. Lots of folks asked me if quarantine life was making me lazy? It gave me an opportunity to say: “I was participating in No Shave November in order to bring awareness to the issues of men's cancer and other maladies that plague those of us in our 'extremely late 30's”

Now that November is over I posted pics of what 30 days away from the razor looks like on us. I've heard more than a few Santa comments. I asked the other guys what the experience has been like for them. Here is what they had to say.

Adam North:

"What I Learned! There are many more men's health issues than I was not aware of! And I consider myself a man!

I learned that you can have "itchy" spots on your body in the most unusual areas. Of course, they don't manifest themselves until you're at dinner with the in-laws, or in the middle of the second verse of Silent Night, along with the rest of the church choir.

What I really learned though is the bond that Ben, Al, and I have and that bond brought us together for a great cause."

Alan Helgeson:

"I have heard about the awareness of No-Shave November for a few years and thought that it might be a good thing for a few of us to see if we can offer some awareness of our own to our listeners. If you’re like me, sometimes we don’t listen to our bodies to know when there are things we need to be doing. Maybe we aren’t scheduling regular checkups or physicals, getting vaccines, or doing health screenings. We don’t think twice about taking care of the maintenance of our vehicles but may miss our own needs.
Growing the facial hair was easy although strange for me. I have never had a beard prior to this fall. On November 1, I shaved and looked like Doc Brown from Back To The Future (can I have a DeLorean please?)

Seriously though, if one person reads this story and it sparks thought to call into your clinic or perhaps a significant other can help in nudging, then this is all worth the month of disgruntlement from our spouses. (Ben’s wife is always disgruntled with him). Bottom line: If you’re a guy and you’re not taking care of your health, see someone, do something, call your clinic. I do. And, I’m keeping the beard-for now. My kids think I could play Kurt Russell’s understudy in Christmas Chronicles III."