The Slice: The shine of those silvery-gray locks shows aging really does look great

I was heading down a hallway at the downtown post office Friday morning when I saw her.

She was withdrawing mail from a P.O. box.

I’ve known this woman for more than 20 years. We have never been more than stop-and-chat acquaintances. But I have always found her to be friendly. She remembers my name. And she has this great, great, great Scottish accent that makes me want to listen to her talk for hours.

I probably run into her only about once or twice a year lately. So I’m always pleased to get a chance to soak up her sound. It makes me want to go home and watch “Local Hero.”

As always, she was well-dressed. But what I noticed this time was her hair. It was short and not dyed. Her natural color now is silvery gray. It really shines.

I volunteered that her new style looked great. I meant it.

She said something about coming to grips with getting old. But I waved that away and repeated my assertion that she looks terrific.

Then I launched into a spiel about how my wife, who she knows, has made the same choice about hair color and how I enthusiastically support the decision. My wife has approached this with a degree of trepidation. So, thinking that my stop-and-chat friend might have experienced similar qualms, I testified at length about how unaffected and appealing the look is.

Eventually, I waved goodbye and headed down the hall. She called after me.

“So are you still at the paper?” she asked.

I said that I was. And I honestly don’t think I made any sort of face. This isn’t 1949. There are lots of options today when it comes to being informed or uninformed, as the case may be.

She said something vaguely apologetic about not seeing the S-R.

“Well,” I said. “I still think you look great.”

A little while later, I thought of what I should have told her.

“Well, you might want to pick up a copy now and then. A few weeks ago, we had a feature story about the trend of confident women letting their hair show its true colors. You might’ve enjoyed it. And by the way, you really do look great.”

Today’s Slice question: How does your cat notify you of urgent food bowl issues?