Jason Salas

Perk@Work: “Winter Coat” | Published February 1, 2021

Two questions boggle me:

1. Why do we have leg hair?
2. Why do women shave their legs?

I’m sure you have pondered these questions as well. I will now answer these two insightful questions without any research whatsoever. From what I can see on social media, that seems the best way to put forth ideas.

Why do we have leg hair?

There are those who say that humans derived from apes. They point to the legs of apes and the legs of humans and say, “Look! Both have leg hair!” Now, I’m not here to debate whether humans evolved from apes, but one would have to wonder, wherever you are on the evolution debate, where did leg hair come from in the first place? And, furthermore, where did hair come from?

We know that reptiles don’t have hair. We also know that birds don’t have hair. We know that mammals have hair. Is hair a form of feathers? Does evolution work like that? If so, what is the progression from feathers to hair? Or is hair just hair to begin with? I find it weird that mammals all had hair all over their bodies from the get-go. Wouldn’t the first mammals be hairless and get more hair instead of getting less (à la, humans)?

If we go the route of creation, why did God give us leg hair? It’s not enough to be considered fur, let alone to insulate us from the cold. It’s not necessarily aesthetic… is it? I mean, no one has ever looked at hairy legs and said, “Wow! How gorgeous!” When you think about it (and I’ve given it over 37 seconds of thought), the only reason we have leg hair is as an additional differentiator between men and women – men usually have more leg hair. Naturally (no pun intended), this brings us to the second question:

Why do women shave their legs?

Would I be off by saying that women shave their leg hair to be more womanly? If having hair legs is associated with being a guy, women who don’t want to look like a guy may shave their legs. At some primal level, this may help guys distinguish between a potential mate and their other guy friends. Of course, a guy noticing that a woman shaves her legs doesn’t automatically make that woman want to mate with the guy. Trust me on this one. Yet, the woman may want to attract as many potential mates as possible so that she can choose the best of the pack.

Some women may disagree with that conclusion. Yet, if you ask them why they themselves shave their legs, you may get a response like, “Oh, it just looks better” or “It’s just something everyone does.” None of these are solid reasons to endure the constant maintenance and potential injury of shaving one’s limbs. Furthermore, both responses go back to my initial theory. If it looks better, it would be to be more attractive to men. If it’s just something everyone does, it’s to keep up with other women who are doing it to look better to, you guessed it, attract men.

Perhaps there is another reason why women shave their legs. There’s always the trite answer, “I just like it better,” but that begs the question, “Why?” Then there are those who don’t answer but ask this question as a retort: “Why do men shave their faces?” That’s simple. It’s either because a guy can’t grow a good-looking beard (I’m in that category), or because it’s cleaner. Not all guys are capable of eating without dribbling food out of their mouths (I’m also in this category as well).

Do you have better answers? I’d love to know. Please place them in the comments below. If there are no comments, that means that I am 100% correct and everyone in the world agrees with me. If not, well then I don’t have a shaved leg to stand on.

(Comic: “Happy Holidays” | December 22, 2008)

Is the phrase “Merry Christmas” offensive and, dare I say it, triggering? To some, no. To others, yes. To many, they couldn’t care less. Does it matter? In a way, it might matter more than you could ever imagine. Get ready because I’m about to ring your jingle bell!

Right-Wingers and Leftists

Your average right-winger deems leftists as triggered snowflakes. Meanwhile, your average leftist pegs right-wingers as heartless bastards. Notice a problem? These are generalizations to be sure (outliers notwithstanding), but generalizations are such for a reason. What’s going on here?

First off, to condemn an entire group of people with seemingly contrasting beliefs than yours is lazy at best. Yet, should you walk on eggshells all day long, hiding your views so as to not hurt anyone’s feelings regardless of which camp you are in? Yes and no.

Live and life or death happen

Our human brains tend to operate on a binary basis: on or off, in or out, up or down, etc. This isn’t bad, per se. We needed this method of thinking to survive eons of life on this dangerous planet. We needed to know if people were potential mates (i.e., opposite gender), if animals were docile or deadly, if the food was edible or poisonous, and so on. Erroring on the side of a perceived spectrum usually ended up in the ultimate fail… death.

We don’t live in that life-or-death world any longer. That said, we’ll always be navigating a terrain in one way or another. In our day and age, it’s a social minefield; a softer battle but still as precarious. We operate on social capital, whether we like it or not. Railroading people with our beliefs reduce our social capital. Is saying “Merry Christmas” railroading people? I don’t think so, but they may. And there’s the rub.

How to navigate the unknown

So what do you do? Listen.

When you meet someone, pay attention to what they say. Usually, people will tell you all you need to know about themselves in a few sentences. If you’re perceptive, you’ll figure out how to respond. If someone says, “I still haven’t bought all my gifts,” chances are they celebrate Christmas. If they say, “I’m getting ready for eight crazy nights,” they may be Jewish. If they say, “The origins of Christmas are nefarious and deeply disturbing. What’s more disturbing is the blatant commercialization and saccharine platitudes that veil our true human desires and insecurities…” You get the idea.

You don’t have to be generic in your well-wishes, yet you simply can no longer assume a common outlook. Take a moment to understand the other person in front of you before shoving a Santa hat on their head and wishing them “Merry Christmas!” They may love that, but it doesn’t hurt to gauge their holiday inclinations first.

May your interactions be merry and bright

In the comic above, Mr. Argyle is sensitive to differing beliefs. Yet, his approach is generic and robotic. What if he got to know his employees and asked them what days they observe if any? He could then tailor his cards appropriately. It’s a bit more work, but it’s more thoughtful than, “Here’s your generic card.”

I’m doing my best to respect the beliefs of others. Sure, it would be easier if everybody celebrated the same way, but that’s not the case. Heck, even I went from observing Christmas to opposing it and back to observing. I’ve been blessed with people who were patient and understanding of my journey. I’d like to pay that forward.

The best gift we can give to another person is the gift of understanding. That gift involves our time, effort, thought, and care. Do that and witness some holiday glow. After all, it’s the thought that counts.