Part 3

  By the time I got to the parking garage I had myself together.  My friend met me there.  He said it looked good.  We walked to the office together - about 3 blocks.  My nervousness increased as we approached.  What would people say? Would anybody laugh?  Well, to make a long story short, NOBODY SAID ANYTHING!  It was a non-event.  Now I had worked at my office for about a year. Other than the one close friend I had made - the one who walked in with me - I had 2 other casual friends.  After a few weeks I brought it up to them and they swore they hadn't known.  One of them said he thought there was something different about me, but wasn't sure what.
  Looking back on pictures of those days, it's hard for me to believe that they didn't know.  In any event,  I developed some self-assurance during the ensuing months.  Then at the office Christmas party my boss decided to have some fun.  Now my boss was one of those one-of-a-kind leaders that you never forget.  He was truly a memorable manager, and I learned a lot from him about leadership and people management.  He was looked up to by others in our large multi-national company and was known as a sterling manager.  He was not, however, without his "impish" side.  He once asked a job applicant who had a bad stutter, "does stuttering bother you?".  Anyway, at our office Christmas dinner that year, among the attendees was an older bald man who was one of the managers in our office (under the leader I've described). Keep in mind I was still a lowly "worker bee".  So our boss comes over to our table and says, "Dwight, let Glen try your wig on!".   I was mortified!! So was Glen! But our boss is not to be denied. What we did was, Glen and I went to the men's room. I took my "wig" off and he put it on (by the way, this is like letting somebody else use your toothbrush).  While I cowered in the bathroom, he emerged to show everybody his new hair.  I heard them all laughing.. Finally he brought it back and I put it back on.  He was very apologetic about the whole thing.  I emerged from the bathroom and returned to my table.  Nothing more was said, and the rest of the evening was enjoyable.  But, from that point on, I knew that everybody in the office knew about my hairpiece.