With and Without

Distinguished and macho?  Brad Pitt?  OK folks, let’s not get carried away here!  Brad Pitt??  I’m not making this up:  My wife, KTIV reporter Melissa Lanzourakis, was on assignment in Peterson, Iowa Wednesday.  The mayor told her the goatee which our news director is letting me take to the airwaves on a trial basis makes me look like Brad Pitt.  I did chuckle when Melissa told me about it, but I’ll confess at having to make a conscious effort to keep my chest from puffing itself out just a bit.

Brad Pitt?   LOL

The “distinguished and macho” comment came from a viewer from Bancroft, Nebraska who left a voice message at the KTIV front desk this morning.  He said the goatee looks great and I should keep it.  I’m trying to figure out how to reconcile that favorable input with earlier comments that the facial growth makes me look old and scruffy.. and like a bum.  The goatee does seem to have a little more gray in it each time I grow it.  I received an email from a husband and wife this morning who said I should keep it, but use Grecian. 

This comment in an email from a woman in Norfolk echoes what several people have said:

“I think Al should be allowed to do anything with his face that he chooses. It is his face after all, and it doesn’t change the way he does his job. I can’t believe some of the people actually said they would change stations if he kept the facial hair. My goodness.”

I appreciate the point, but ultimately, the decision really is up to my employer, KTIV.  It’s standard in the business that if a news anchor wants to alter his or her appearance, it must first be approved by the management.  They are the ones who cut the paycheck every two weeks.  They probably don’t want me showing up for work one day with a pierced nose, spiked hair and facial tattoos.

At this point, the goatee is scruffy.  I recognize that.  It’s a work in progress.  A nine-day old goatee isn’t very pretty.  At least, not on my face.  It needs more time to develop and become more… “manly.”  When we got married last summer, Melissa wanted me to have a goatee for the wedding.  I tried to comply.  Honestly, I did.  But I had only six days to work with, and really, there isn’t much that one can do to promote rapid goatee growth.  Alas, on the day of our wedding, the towel was thrown in and the razor called into service.  One suggestion that I rent a goatee from the Dowry was dismissed and I think that was for the better.

Keep the votes and the comments coming.  And thanks for helping us have fun with this.

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