Summer Update: 2 weeks, 0 haircuts later.  Can't say the same for Brendan.

When they fall, they fall hard.

Don't worry, Ben, I'm holding out.  Boston Strong.

I haven't thoroughly tested this hypothesis yet, but I'm pretty confident that longer hair makes me look more approachable to complete strangers on the T (subway).  Living in the city gives me hundreds of opportunities to encounter folks I'll never see again in my life, and recently I seem to be a magnet for the tourists who have questions.  The good news: I'm basically a Boston guru by now.  Test me, I dare you.  The bad news: I'm not sure why I'm suddenly the most approachable person in public these days. I attribute it to the longer hair. It must soften my otherwise highly judgmental expressions.  Here's some highlights from the last two weeks:

Taryn:

Who: 21-year-old student at UMass Amherst. 

When: 11:30pm on a weeknight

Where: Government Center station

Why: Although she is born and raised in Boston and now attends college in the area, she couldn't figure out how to make it to Park Street.  

Fun fact: Turns out we were one stop away.  Since I was going through Park Street to get home anyway, we became riding buddies for the surprisingly long journey. 

Fun fact: She asked me for my phone number (first time since the infamous Collis Spanish-erotica girl incident of 13S). I deftly avoided giving it to her by providing my twitter handle instead. (Public Service Announcement: Follow me! Especially you readers from Saudi Arabia. I know there's 2 of you. Plus, if you have any jobs in the energy industry for me, hook a brotha up.) Anyway, now @babyt31392 has access to 292 retweets of Economist articles and Earth Pics.  Teaches her not to pick up strangers on the subway.  How do you like them apples?

Tom and Elizabeth:

Who: Sweet British couple

When: 11am on a Saturday

Where: Immediately outside my apartment, holding up a map of the T 

Why: Needed help getting to the mall.  They were oh so close.  And the subway map wasn't really going to get them very far at that point anyway.  

Fun fact: Turns out they were actually from New Zealand. I thought it was a safe bet to call them Brits after they referred to it as "the tube".  I was mistaken. 

Unknown Man:

Who: See above.

When: In the organic chips aisle at Shaw's

Where: Today

Why: Needed assistance getting to the sugar aisle.

Fun fact: I'm not sure why I always end up going down the organic foods aisle.  There's no chance I'm ever going to buy a bag of locally-grown granola for $16. Normal granola is healthy enough. Honestly it's probably because there always seem to be cute girls on that aisle.

So would these lovely encounters cease if I got my hair cut? Hopefully we'll never know.