The first thing I noticed about Alex the very first time I saw him was a mass of curly hair so HUGE, I was convinced it was one of those bad 1970s Afro wigs (see Jeannie's afro wig shots to understand how big Alex's hair was). I did the only thing possible in that situation. I burst out laughing. I stared at him and laughed. He looked at me in this puzzled sort of way - not expecting this type of greeting, obviously, from someone he'd never met.
It got worse. "Um .. that's his real hair." I laughed harder, leaning up against a wall. I tried to stop, but you know how that goes. I had to walk away, hiding around a corner. To his credit, he did not hold this against me. I found out later he'd permed his hair as a protest against a private school rule which did not allow hair to "touch the collar."
At last year's prom, I ran into him again when I was there to take photos for the newspaper. "Hey, remember me?" he asked, gesturing a large area around his head with his hands. I took his photo for the paper .. and have taken it again several times since.
Alex is one of the most easy going people I've ever met and obviously has both a forgiving spirit and a good sense of humor.