State of the ‘Stache: A New Series

You’ve probably noticed that a lot of firefighters have mustaches. I’m asked about them on occasion by friends — online and off. The truth is that a mustache is the only facial hair a firefighter can rock. Why? Other facial hair interferes with the seal of their mask. Hence, lots of Magnum P.I. wannabes.

Prior to marrying my husband, I said that there were only a few people on whom mustaches look “good.” Tom Selleck, my Dad and very few firefighters. My Dad is added to the equation for this reason: When my Mom met my Dad, he already had a mustache. He had a beard as well for most of my life, shaving the beard at times but always rockin’ the ‘stache. So, not only had I never seen him without a mustache, but my Mom had never seen her husband’s upper lip either. For my 18th birthday, the only thing I asked for was for my Dad to shave his mustache. And he did. (Why yes, I was quite doted on.) It was awesome. And he grew it back. He wears a mustache well.

Back to the fire department now. FireDad and a fellow firefighter were discussing mustaches at work the other day. They did some counting and realized that they were in the minority at the department as they are currently ‘stache-less. (They also realized that there are quite a few recycled/duplicate names at the department, which is a post for another day.) The realization that they were two of the very few hairless lip men at the station lead them to convince the current Probie and a few other guys to… you guessed it… start growing mustaches.

Cue laughter.

If you have seen my husband, you know he has the typical Baby Face. It’s visible in pictures that I share here on the blog, but it’s even more obvious in person. So just trust me: Baby Face. Of course, quite a few of the other firefighters joining in this Mustache Challenge are also rocking some baby faces, but that isn’t deterring them. They’re growing mustaches! *insert foot stomp here*

I support this endeavor for a few reasons.

• FireDad has never told me what to do with my hair. He always compliments my hair, even when it’s some wacky shade or “unique” cut. That also runs true for piercings. And tattoos. Or even clothes.
• Mustaches are a part of the fire service history. Who am I to shun history?
• Tom Selleck is awesome.
• AWESOME BLOG SERIES, FTW!

That’s right. I’m using my husband’s lip for personal gain. Sue me. Of course, I’m not really gaining anything, other than some amused laughs with my husband and his coworkers — and their significant others. I haven’t actually discussed the Mustache Challenge with any of the other partners. Maybe in a future installment.

Without further delay, here is FireDad’s pre-’stache picture. Kind of. He technically stopped shaving on Saturday and this picture was snapped on Sunday afternoon. Close enough. Also, he’s not actually angry about the series (he gave it his seal of approval), he’s just a goofball in pictures.

The truth is that he can grow something more like a beard much faster than he can grow a mustache. So, we’ll see how it goes! (He shaved the other face whiskers before he went to work and will continue to do so, leaving the mustache.)

I’m not sure FireDad is going to win any top mustache awards, but it should be fun to see the results. I think this will be a weekly series and I’ll try to keep you updated on the other guys as well.