Until I dated a black person I had no idea how complicated and potentially frustrating black hair could be. It’s amazing and beautiful too, but it's not easy. I also was completely unaware that there was a code system for hair types! That and the way people want to touch black hair was a surpise and how much that touching can mess up a person's hair too!
Discussion
It IS complicated and can be very frustrating to deal with especially with the lack of knowledge on how to properly maintain it (I've found plenty of black people still struggle maintenance while trying to fit in societys standards), I hope we can all heal/learn to take better care of our noggins.
I'm glad you learned something new, there 12 different hair types actually. Some people (like myself) can have multiple hair types on their head! Sometimes when I shave it off and it regrows sometimes the texture is different than it was before!
I applaud your recognition of this, truly. Having people ask to touch your hair is probably the most frustrating thing in the world since I know it comes from a place of curiosity most of the time. I've had to learn to set boundaries but still let people have that experience without either party being/feeling disrespected.