A ‘Hairy’ Secret

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Why do so many people go nuts over owning a piece of a celebrity? I mean an actual piece— whether it’s a lock of hair, a used Kleenex or even nail clippings (ewww!). This week’s auction of a large bunch of Elvis’ hair clippings reminded me of a dirty little secret I have kept stashed away in a drawer of my desk.

Yes, I have fallen victim to the “own a piece of a celebrity, no matter what it is” syndrome. In a small folded envelope I have a nice collection of hair clippings from a very famous director.

How I got these clippings is amusing, but would probably get me fired if I was still working at the hotel where I acquired them in the mid-’90s.

This particular celeb was giving a speech at our local university, California State University, Chico, and needed a place to rest for just a few hours. Unfortunately for him, our hotel was booked (as were all the other hotels in town), but we switched a few people around and made a room available to him for a few hours. He was hobbling around on crutches when he arrived because of a recent knee surgery. His entourage escorted him up to the room and left him to rest.

A few hours later, the same entourage came back through the lobby, carefully escorting their famous boss out the front and they were gone. I immediately got busy loading up some housekeeping supplies and hurried up the elevator to clean the room. We needed that room available, and because our housekeeping staff was gone for the day, I took charge of that task.

The room looked pretty much untouched—the bed was still made, no trash or used towels lying on the floor—at least it wouldn’t take long to fix it up again. Several bed pillows had been taken from the closet, and were propped up on the headboard and in the middle of the bed. Apparently, our famous guest had been lying there with his injured knee resting on a couple pillows. I went over to the bed and was about to grab the pillows to change when I noticed a lot of hair all over the pillowcase. Not long hair, but short ¼-inch clippings you get when you’ve just had a haircut.

Without thinking, I took an envelope from the desk and brushed the hair into it. I tucked the envelope into my pocket, finished cleaning and went back down to the front desk for the remainder of my shift.

When I got home, I realized that I still had the envelope in my pocket. With it being so busy and hectic at the hotel that evening, I had forgotten about my little keepsake. It’s not like something you want to brag about owning—it’s almost embarrassing to admit.

So whose famous locks do I have, you ask? Why, Mr. Spike Lee’s.