And Now, a Few Words From Silverstache Award Winner and Volunteer Extraordinaire: Josh Fischel

We were talking about this last night at ABC: the evolution of our mustaches in a social context. At first, we grew stubbly beards to hide our true purpose. When it became more obvious, after that first shave, we were subjected to (gentle?) ridicule from our friends. "I thought you were growing a mustache," some would tease. Jerks. I liked to imagine that my mustache would function much like that Play-Doh accessory that allowed you to extrude the dough through some strainer-type thing to make linguine or maybe spaghetti. But it didn't work like that. It took more patience.

The next stage was two weeks in or so, when I would walk down the street and nod to passers-by, as is my custom. Except that now, the return nod was usually interrupted by a double-take and a clouded expression. "What is that fellow with the mustache looking at me for?" I read that thought maybe a dozen times during my daily constitutionals. "I'm growing it for the children!" I wanted to call after them.

Finally - and this is the really interesting part to me - I started seeing mustaches where I had never noticed them before. These facial-haired fellows were now my closest peers, but it is unlikely that they were growing their mustaches for charity. This led me to wonder: how was the decision made? Do people - men - wake up one day, look in the mirror, and say, "Yup - time for a mustache"? Is it part of a kind of boring mid-life crisis? Is it suggested by a loved one? To cover a mole so people do not confuse you with Cindy Crawford? What is it that drives men to mustaches?

This is what I want to know - those who have chosen this lifestyle (is it even a choice???), I encourage you to comment - how did the mustache come about? And what does it mean?