A KENNEDY’S BARBER CLUB® HERO: WHAT A DIFFERENCE A “YEARD” MAKES

Thursday, September 24th, 2009

If you’ve seen our new article on “Weird Beards,” you’ll quickly observe that we’re not the largest fans of Facial Hair Gone Wild. But we must make an exception for a great friend of Kennedy’s All-American Barber Club®, who recently wrapped up a whisker-a-thon for a worthy cause.

Daniel Poskevich decided to begin growing a “Yeard” – that would be a beard that’s allowed to sprout unimpeded for 12 months – on September 20th, 2008, to raise money for charity (Cents of Life – find out more about it at www.centsofrelief.org). He also blogged about his experience – while sharing photos of the progress of the overgrown lawn that his chin quickly became.

Before...

and a yeard later

We’d like now to reprint his most recent entry from www.yeard.blogspot.com, which completely captures the climax of this year-long odyssey. And no, we’re not just doing this because the blog happens to mention us (well…it’s partly because it mentions us – who wouldn’t want to be called “professional beard assassins?”).

Friends-

Only 4 days remain until the professional beard assassin at Kennedy’s All-American Barber Club reduces me from an uber-manly, bearded warrior to a baby-faced 12-year-old. Needless to say, my emotions are going haywire as the seconds tic down to Sunday afternoon. On one hand, I am very excited to be able to do the following without the massive bird’s nest on my face:

1. Eat most foods like a normal human being, mostly hamburgers/sandwiches and soup, which I have had to avoid for the better part of the last year (though I tried to forge ahead and eat them anyway, the disgusted looks of my dining companions made me realize how absurd and beastly I must have looked with sandwich accoutrements and soup hanging out all over my bearded face. Ew.).

2. Enter any number of retail establishments without being judged and/or forced to leave because of my assumed homelessness.

3. Actually enjoy more than half of a beer or cocktail without the Yeard absorbing the rest and getting hammered on his own.

4. Enjoying the great outdoors in the Sunshine State without my face feeling like it’s on fire.

5. Go out into public to enjoy some adult beverages without being physically accosted by tiny men with Napoleon complexes.

On the other hand, I will miss the following:

1. The random pro-beard comment from passers-by

2. Obviously being the toughest, manliest SOB this side of the Mississippi

3. Not shaving every day

4. Having a warm, fuzzy face sweater to protect my delicate skin when confronted with the arctic air conditioning at most restaurants and movie houses in Florida.

5. Raising money for a kick-ass charity.

As I said, the emotions are running high around here. I’ve already been put on warning by my fiancée, Shelleanor of Arabia, that she may not go through with our upcoming nuptials because she hasn’t seen my face in a year and won’t be used to it, so at least I have that going for me. I’m going to spend the rest of the afternoon today researching Buddhist chants and other relaxing exercises that I can perform on Sunday to avoid any possible separation anxiety/abandonment issues for when the Yeard is gone. Either that, or I’ll drink many, many Natty Lite tall boys at Graffiti Junktion…that can cure anything (even swine flu).

How did the shaving go? Can those tall boys really cure swine flu? Keep checking Daniel’s blog for the answers – and consider making a contribution to his cause at www.firstgiving.com/yeard.

And as always, feel free to drop by your nearest Kennedy’s Barber Club location, which you can track down on our website at http://www.kennedysbarberclub.com. You’ll find that our professional beard assassins are armed and ready to eliminate their next hairy target – with prejudice.

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