Hair's The Thing
by Steve West on April 24, 2009
I just got back from getting a haircut. I sat in the chair at a local salon and reminisced about my childhood and accompanying my father to his weekly hair trimmings. We went to a pretty old-fashioned Mayberry barbershop in suburban DC that was the Italian version of Floyd's. The type of shop where the combs are all submerged in that unidentifiable blue liquid and all the chairs were hand cranked. The customers all knew each other and the only haircut available was the "regular". A place in which the customer to your left or right was just as likely to be getting a shave as a haircut and you could also get your shoes shined. They had that spinning blue and red barber pole outside and I think it was called Tony's. Each haircut I get these days reminds me of how good it feels to be freshly shorn and I wonder why I wait until I look like a surfer wannabe before I return. It's not the dough exactly (I can afford a haircut every two weeks if I wanted), it's more of what a hassle it seems to wait for so long in this age of immediate gratification. Maybe if they shined my shoes while waiting...
Two Replies to Hair's The Thing
Aaron Shurtleff | April 24, 2009
Yeah, I just don't care enough. I'm no fan of the full-on salon hair-washing, scalp-massaging treatment (big surprise), but it usually doesn't matter. I'm all over the place with my hair usually. It changes with the day sometimes, it seems. :)
Web Junkie
Steve West scours the Web searching for interest or absurdity and then shakes his head ruefully when he finds it. Read more »
GooCon: Siesta Key
What can I say? It was the best time ever! Future GooCons now have a standard that will be difficult to surpass. Go »We Were That Close
Brenda and I looked at a house a few days ago and were very charmed by it. It was a ranch style home with four bedrooms, a large fenced yard and was selling at a reasonable price. Brenda was a little unsure of the size of the bedrooms but agreed to go back and specifically measure them with a tape measure and if they met her minimum standards, she would agree to make an offer for the house. Go »I Am A Marketing Genius
Recent conversation with Brenda: me: I’m thinking of buying that 5-hour energy stuff. Brenda: Think it’ll be worth it? me: Depends on what it costs – that whole dollars to extra push-ups ratio. Go »The Bus Stops Here
In Slapshot, Paul Newman encourages the minor league hockey team he captains to play like goons. The team begins to have some success and the driver of the team bus joins in the spirit of gooniness. Paul Newman approaches him while he is proceeding to smack the exterior of the bus with a sledge hammer and inquires as to what he is doing. Go »Darth Vader Is Alive And Well And Living In My Toaster
So we got this gift from a mother-in law who shall remain nameless; a "super-mega-nuclear look at me long enough and your face will melt like that guy in Raiders toaster. There was nothing wrong with our existing toaster but when she saw it on QVC, my nameless mother-in-law had one of those have to have it moments. I've nicknamed the toaster Darth Vader because regardless of the setting, it turns the bread to the dark side every time. Go »
Scott Hardie | April 24, 2009
I've had arguments on other sites by trying too hard to defend the old-fashioned barber shop against changing times, so I won't get into it here. But I'm still disappointed by what's available in this area. A new "barber shop" opened across the street, complete with red-and-white-striped pole and sports playing on the TV in the lobby. I was suspicious when they offered me bottled spring water while I waited. The place turned out to be a salon in disguise: Before they would cut my hair, they insisted on washing it and making me sit back with a hot washcloth on my face for ten minutes before starting. I asked twice not to have any gel in my hair and to have a shorter version of the plain haircut I walked in with, but I walked out with my hair moussed in five directions at once. I felt like such a clown, and it didn't help that my girlfriend squealed in joy at seeing it after we had argued so much about my conservative tastes. I dumped her and shaved my head, and later got a better woman and a better cut that both suit me just fine.