How A Haircut Can Save The World

I’m the kind of guy that likes to keep my hair short. I guess it is something that my father instilled in me at a very young age. It’s nothing against guys that have long hair, it’s just that I was always brought up in a house where a “clean cut” look was THE style. I decided after work yesterday I needed a haircut. I have never been the kind of guy that insists on having the same person cut my hair and I don’t make reservations to get a trim. When I need it, I go get it. That being said, I generally just go with what is closest at the time.

History At The Barber Shop

I took a trip down memory lane yesterday when I stepped into a good old fashioned barber shop in Elma. To my surprise, the same guy that cut my hair 33 years ago was still in business and his chair was empty. I was quickly reminded why guys like my father always chose a real barber. I realize that today’s beauticians work hard and many are very talented at what they do. However, it’s the environment and atmosphere that I think makes the biggest difference.

A Place To Be Yourself

The barber shop that I was in yesterday is a man’s man type of place.  No fancy hair dryers, no “coloring” stations or nail desks. He doesn’t wash your hair or have a kiddie area. It’s a place a guy can go to talk sports, hunting and fishing. We talk politics and what’s wrong with the world and how to fix it. We get caught up on who is passed and who is in jail in some cases. At a real barber shop you can be yourself, even drop an “f” bomb here and there and not worry about being politically correct. Sure there are dirty magazines if you wana flip through one. It doesn’t happen any longer, but, I recall when dad took me to get a haircut when I was kid and guys would be toking on a pipe or cigar and no one called the health department. It was just like happy hour without the bar!

Social Networking

The stories, the history, the camaraderie…it’s more than a good looking “man’s haircut.” Before Facebook and Twitter, there was places like barber shops for guys and salons for the ladies. The barber shops and the barber are a dying breed I am sorry to report. It’s actually sad to see happen. Most people today are going to the fancier places that are overcrowded, or in my opinion, bland. I admit, I have stopped into these places out of convenience a time or two. At the risk of pissing off a few “stylists” out there, my hair never looked quite the way it does after a barber cut it.

On My Soap Box

Call me old fashioned. Perhaps, I am hanging on to some of my child hood a little too much? The fact is that there are fewer and fewer guys in this world that are attending  barber school or even carrying on the tradition of and old fashioned way to “get your ears lowered.” Once these shops have all closed up, who is going to solve the world’s crises?