I'm afraid I'm gonna cut it...

If you like it, you should keep it.  Your coworkers don't get to decide what you do with your hair, its not on their heads and frankly, its really not any of their business anyway.  If your bf likes it also, that's just an added reason to keep it. 

Layers don't usually tend to do much for us with long straight hair, as they just thin it out, and we naturally have a small problem with thinner ends anyway.  It does sound like it might help your hair since you've broken a lot of it in the middle on your chair though.  If it were me, I'd either throw something over the back of that chair to protect it, or wear it up so it wouldn't get caught anymore. 

My point is, maybe consider layers if the "middle splits" are really bad to where you can't stand how it looks, or if the splits are really bad (because they'd climb your hair and set you back).  But if you don't dislike it, just wait until the damage grows out and cut it off blunt as it grows.  You may be able to help the splits by just dusting (cutting right above the split on each individual hair).  Takes awhile to do a whole head, but you'll like the results and you won't need a haircut.  If you do go for layers, make sure they don't use a razor, as this cuts hair in a way that it gets damaged quicker (not straight across each hair).

Its hard to have dyed fingertip length hair, because dye damages it so, but some people do it and their hair looks great.  Really up to you whether you want dye or bangs.

My hair is extremely thick, but I was afraid that layers would make it poof out from my head even more than it already does. Wouldn't layers make it harder to put up, which I do three or four times a week at the office? I use a hair comb or ouchless ponytail-holders most of the time, although the ponytail is just as bad as leaving it down in terms of split ends. I should probably practice braiding my own hair

HairBraider, there was a lady in my office building who had wavy, thick hair to the tops of her thighs, and every time my coworkers caught sight of her they'd make fun of her and say things like, "The last two feet of her hair are dead! I'd like to just cut them off!" I hadn't seen her around in a while, but one of my coworkers told me that she cut her hair. I guess she just doesn't stick out to me anymore. I just know that long hair can be healthy and attractive, despite those who don't like it.

It sounds like you have some particularly anti long hair people in your office.  I agree with Bob too, its almost always malicious jealousy of something they don't have that looks better than them.  I'd probably just wear mine in updos so they didn't ever know it was long (Its a shame I know, but that's is just what I'd do anyway.  The other option is one day you just get so sick of them being jealous and malicious and say something snappy to them and then you have stress in the office, and that can be more annoying than the former....of course there are always ways to say anything you need to, if you chose to, phrased properly, you just have to do it before you're really mad...)

You get to decide how much the hairdresser cuts off, you are paying them to do what you want.  You can bring a ruler and say "I want exactly this much cut off, no more", and the second you see something longer than that hit the floor, hop out of the chair.  Yes, layers would make hair stick out of upstyles a little more, you are right.  I think that is the main reason messy upstyles are so common these days, because everyone has layers.  If your hair is thick, you can pull it off better than others, but if your hair is straight it will just thin out the ends.

Edited because I was interrupted during original posting



Edited by Susan W - October 19 2007 at 7:47am

I agree with what everyone else says.  It's your hair and if you like it and your boyfriend likes it, then you do what you want to do and try to ignore what the shorties are saying.  They're envious...they don't think so and wouldn't admit it, but they probably are.  You will have to do something though about the damage being caused by the chair since it's an everyday thing.  Like Hairbraider suggested, ask for a different chair....say it's bothering you back or something or else lay a favorite blanket or something over it.  Tell people the blanket is sentimental to you and that's why you wanted it at your desk.  Stay in touch here and let us know how things are going.

OK, so I've sneakily switched out my chair so the breakage should stop.