The Person I'm Next To Might Not Remember What He Looks Like

I'm next to an older gentleman. He has ruffled white Mark Twain hair, a faded red shirt, and jeans. He is flying through a crossword puzzle. Hunched over his chair, his bulky slightly gone to fat frame is wonderfully symmetrical. His stance is important not just for its aesthetic appeal, but because of his beard.
His beard, of course, is also white and is touching his crossword. While his hunchedeness is facilitating that, it still is a long beard. It isn't long enough that I'm going to call the local media outlets, but it sparks my interest. From my own beard growing experiments I can say this is at least a two year beard, plus because this beard is white, I feel like it is older. Please ignore the flaws in logic here, I am. It is possible this person hasn't seen his face sans beard for decades.
What if this was his first beard? What if he grew it after his first wife died? What if he was in a biker gang? What if he is a war criminal hiding behind whiskers? What if he is Santa? What if he is a mall Santa? What if he has a mole he hasn't seen in 15 years? Would you forget your face if you looked at a different face in the mirror every day since forever? I get surprised by myself after a couple of weeks of not shaving. This gentleman is now a mysterious gentleman, good for him.
There are people with long beards all around, what are their secrets?

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