Stopped at my favorite coffee shop tonight. Noticed the cute barista had cut her long, blonde hair off; it was all chopped off in the back. Cute, but I liked it longer.
Figured I should say something. Wanted to tease her a little. A comment with a sarcastic twist rose in my mind in much the same way most people fear change (i.e., without much conscious thought).
I walked over while I was waiting for my tall soy chai and said, deadpan, “You look different.”
She preened and smiled, “Yeah! I chopped off all my hair!”
“Huh. No,” I said, squinting at her, “I was thinking you looked taller.”
She turned serious. “I’ve heard that before, that’s so weird. Whenever I cut my hair, people think I’m taller!”
“Oh,” I said, still deadpan. “Really. Mostly, I was being sarcastic.”
“You’re not the first person to think that,” she said.
Well, I couldn’t have that. “Yeah, it’s probably because you’re all neck now.”
She laughed and stretched her head up. “It’s the giraffe effect!”
Yeah, that’s it.