Business in the Front, Party in the Back
How much of yourself do you have to change when you're starting over?
Whether you’re starting a new job, or moving to a new town, new beginnings can sometimes lead to making little changes to fit in. Often without even realizing it. It isn’t always a bad thing. Sometimes the changes are good ones, and sometimes they’re questionable.
Those of us who lived through the 80’s survived a seriously eclectic fashion era. As teenagers it was all about copying Madonna’s underwear as outerwear style, or Michael Jackson’s zipper pants. Then there was the Miami Vice look, and we mustn’t forget influences from Cyndi Lauper, Salt-N-Pepa, and George Michael.
I’m not sure if those styles will ever come back “in,” but there’s one thing I thought was done for good.
Where I lived it was known as the “business in the front, party in the back” hair style. MacGyver had one, Andre Agassi had one. So did John Stamos, Patrick Swayze, Mel Gibson and even yours truly had one.
Yes, the mullet. My high school senior photo features me wearing one. In fact, I was so serious about mine, I even added a curly perm, just in the back of course. It grew to nearly the middle of my back before I came to my senses and cut it all off before prom.
The mullet was a trend. For most of us, it came and went and we moved on.
I was caught off guard for a moment the other day when I opened my messages and my husband Cade had sent a photo of one. He was on a flight from Sydney back to the U.S. and the man in front of him was sporting the most severe mullet I’ve seen. Cade sent it to our family group chat with the caption “Goodbye Australia.”
Then his brother wrote “Haha, the Modern Mullet.” I wasn’t sure if he was being cheeky or not, but I had to find out if the Modern Mullet was a real thing.
I needed to know because at the end of this month Cade and I, and our dog Chase, are moving to the Gold Coast. Australia will officially be our home after months of planning. And this is one thing I wasn’t prepared for.
If the mullet is alive and well in Australia, am I going to be pressured to grow one? I can tell you for certain, it won’t look the same on the 56 year old me, as it did on the 17 year old me.
So I did a little bit of research. Apparently I’ve been living under a rock, because the mullet is having a revival right here in the U.S. It’s getting a more modern look (Modern Mullet) which I’ve decided to call the “MoMu.”
As much as I shudder to admit it, my research brought up images of MoMu interpretations that were actually very stylish looking. Not like mine, which was reminiscent of Billy Ray Cyrus’ Achy Breaky Heart video.
More importantly, I found out that not only is the mullet (Aussie slang “muzza”) a thing in Australia, it never went out of style. It has survived every decade since the 80’s.
In fact, every April is Mullets for Mental Health month. It was started by a charity called the Black Dog Institute and has raised over $13 million for suicide prevention research.
I guess mullets are popular amongst rugby league players, and Australians are fanatics when it comes to rugby. I’m not a sports person, go figure. But the uniforms! Hands down my favorite uniforms of any sport.
Now that we’re all caught up on mullet news, I have to say, moving to the other side of the world is not the same as moving to another neighborhood or even a different state.
There are options, but we decided shipping our belongings wasn’t worth the headache or the money. Instead of packing boxes, my job is figuring out how to sell basically everything we own that doesn’t fit into the five or six suitcases we’re flying with. It’s a lot.
Thankfully, Cade has been navigating the intricacies of Chase’s immigration remotely, which is equally as complicated and nearly as expensive as mine.
As I do, I convinced myself that this move wouldn’t affect my publishing schedule but it has. Of course it has. And all of you have been nothing but supportive and encouraging.
That said, I didn’t want too much time to pass without publishing something. When this little interaction happened and I saw the story in it, it gave me just what I was looking for.
What I have been doing when there’s time, is focusing on Substack Notes. If you spend any time on the platform, you have probably seen my posts. For those of you who don’t, I wanted to touch base and let you know that I’m still here!
If you find yourself missing me so much that you can barely function in life, you can go to www.thisisungarnished.com and click on Notes on the Navigation bar.
Notes are like mini versions of essays. Usually 3-4 sentences about whatever is on my mind that day. They often lead to some interesting conversations. By the end of September I should be settled enough to resume a weekly publishing cycle.
And in the spirit of embracing the culture of my new home, I’m growing a MoMu!!
Yeah, nah. I’ll be as likely to grow a mullet as I am to take up rugby. Happy bystander to both.
Cheers!
—R. Michael
R. Michael is a former yacht chef, a married gay father, and a late-diagnosed neurodivergent writer. He tells his own stories, but he writes them for you, hoping you found something here to connect with. This is Ungarnished.
A new conversation happens every week,
and you’re invited. Come as you are.
