Shave to Skin, Fade, Do Not Touch = Getting It Right

Before running on National Running Day, before walking a half marathon for my birthday, and even before the Assaultive Behavior Management class, first came THE dreaded HAIRCUT. If by any chance you have followed this blog for awhile, you would already know about my searching high and low for a barber. Too many times or more often than not, barbers have left me dissatisfied with the way they have done their abstract designs on my noggin.

A couple of weeks ago after leaving work and shopping for groceries, I was on my way home when I espied that one of the barbershops  I’ve used in recent months was open and had no customers yet. So I stopped and had a haircut. Using my previous description at another barbershop about how I wanted my hair done, I told the barber that I wanted the sides shaved to the skin halfway up, then a fade and taper the rest of the way. The difference this time was that I told him not to take any off the top because when the last barber did it, my hair remained spiky for several months. And away he went buzzing here and snipping there a la Edward Scissorhands but with an electric razor. And VOILA! When he was done, it appeared that , I finally got lucky and got what I consider to be a proper haircut. Once in a rare while, the barber gets it right. So much so that I asked him to take a picture with me which made it look like Sweeney Todd getting ready to slaughter his next victim.

Public comments below, private comments: E-mail Me!

A High Fade That Made Me Feel Like Fading From Society

The Plan Was For The Situation To Be Like This

About 10 months ago, I wrote this blogpost: New Barber = Too Short Haircut . It was bad then and little did I think it could get any worse. Almost a year later, I was hoping that I had found a permanent replacement to the barber I've had for years who finally retired. The search goes on...

          First, do you know a good lawyer who specializes in tonsorial litigation? Because I need one and let me tell you why. I haven't had a haircut since December 2012. The barber I found then did me well by shearing the sides of my head short enough to last three months. At the hint of the first mild heat wave this winter season, I called to get an appointment with that female barber. A voicemail was left unanswered so I walked to the barbershop to find it shuttered and out of business. If all their customers were like me and only got a haircut every three months,  then I guess that wouldn't be enough to keep them in business. I then made an appointment with an alternate barbershop but then not a single barber showed up at the time they were supposed to open. I called them later to suggest that they should change their posted opening time to later if nobody can show up on time (and believe me, I waited for 45 minutes). As expected, they hanged up on me. Oops, I guess they just lost a customer.

          By that time, I really wanted my hair shorn badly and searched for another barber nearby. I found one and after working out, I went to the shop and waited a few minutes for him to finish two guys ahead of me. It just so happened that his two sons were running around the shop because he had to babysit them while his wife was at the DMV. When it was my turn, I pointed to one of the pictures on the wall to show what kind of haircut I wanted. The barber asked me if I was ex military because I wanted the sides cut really short. To their parlance, it was a number 1 blade or less. I also asked him to trim about an inch off the top to keep it slightly long. So he proceeded to shave shave here, and a trim trim there, and cut cut everywhere cut cut. In the meantime, he was trying his best to rein in the kids. When he finally turned me around towards the mirror I didn't recognize myself. I was looking at a middle aged man with a buzz cut, looking like a Marine in basic training but 30 years or so too late to qualify. It was the shortest haircut I've ever had since the crew cut in high school which was at my mother's insistence then.

          I felt like asking Phillip (that was the barber's name) if he was mad at me. But we just met! Later, I even had the notion of asking for his barber's license. But in reality, I was just laughing in my head at my own expense for the way I looked. Good thing I'm not trying to be attractive to anyone and that it will grow out in about a year..or two.

Instead It Turned Out Like This!!!

Postscript: I haven't used hair mousse or gel since the mid to  late 80's and I had to buy one just so I can lay my hair flat and somewhat manageable. Otherwise, it would be like having bedhead full time. Maybe the barber was too distracted with his children running around that he unintentionally cut more than intended. I shall give him the benefit of the doubt for now.

I guess it's not so bad from this angle, but I'm biased.

Public comments below, private comments: E-mail Me!

New Barber = Too Short Haircut

Woke up, got out of bed, combed the hair across my head. Oops, that’s a Beatles song. Anyway, when I woke up last Thursday morning, I made a spur of the moment decision to go to the barber rather than wait another week or so. Because it was unplanned, I didn’t make an appointment. Not that it mattered at this particular barbershop. It seemed like a first come first served establishment.

 They open at 8 a.m. and when I got there at about 8:15, the guy who had given me a haircut the last three times was already busy with a customer and another person was waiting. Pretty soon, a female barber whom I’ve never seen before showed up and motioned me to her chair. I haven’t had a woman cut my hair since 1981when I was new to this country and my aunt took me to her hairdresser. Prior to that in the Philippines, most of my haircuts were done by women after high school but not too often because those were my long hair years. In those days, I only had a trim to snip off the split ends that I got from playing too much tennis under the hot sun.

I’m not real picky nowadays about who cuts my hair after my barber of almost two decades got too expensive for my budget. Besides he was going to retire soon anyway. So I sit on Sylvia’s chair (I got her name before I left) and she asked me what kind of haircut I wanted, and I told her – a high fade, shaved at the sides and slightly long on top. She asked me if I wanted a #1 or #0 blade for the sides of my head, and I said #0. So she starts using the electric razor on the sides of my head and it seemed to be going okay. Then she switched the trimmer adjustment and proceeded to do the top of my head. That was new to me because in the past, the barber would use scissors and a comb to cut that part of my hair. The razor size that Sylvia was using felt a little too short so I told her not to cut the top too short. When all was said and done, my hair appeared okay by the looks of it in the barbershop mirrors. I complimented Sylvia that she got it right the first time and she said to ask for the #8 blade next time. I paid her and went home. Upon further review after seeing my close up in the mirror, I was shocked to see how short the hair was on the top of my head. They were actually spiky! Well, a little too late now. Perhaps a #12 blade would be more to my liking next time. If there was a good thing that came out of this, it is that Sylvia speaks English very well so we can communicate better. The previous guy spoke mostly Spanish and it was harder to tell him how I wanted my hair cut. In the meantime, don’t anybody touch the top of my head because it could be considered a deadly weapon.

Introducing: forehead in widescreen format and spiky hair - no gel required.

Public comments below, private comments: E-mail Me!

In Search Of… A New Barber

This is going to be a short one: the blog and the hair…

I’ve been looking for a new barber since the one I’ve been going to for the last 20 years is getting ready to retire (I envy him). Whenever I drive around town, I’ve been keeping an eye out for barber shops in the neighborhood. I found one only a few steps from home so I decided to give them a try last Wednesday afternoon. When I got there, I saw two barber chairs but only one barber was present. He had just returned from his lunch break and lucky for me, he had no appointments waiting. From what I gather, the two who worked there graduated from the same barber school and decided to be partners in business. He asked me how long it has been since my last haircut and I told him about 4 months (that reminded me of catholic confession when you tell the priest when your last confession was ). Gabe, the barber wanted to know how I would like my hair cut and I started to describe to him what I usually get: short and tight on the sides using a number 1 blade, tapered at the back, and keep the top slightly long. Well, it didn’t turn out quite exactly the way my old time barber used to do. My hair didn’t get butchered but it was cut a little too short for my taste. I didn’t complain though because I knew this was part of the process of the barber learning exactly how the customer prefers it. Besides, in a couple of weeks’ time the semi spiky hair would have settled down. I like my hair short so I don’t have to visit the barber for 3 to 4 months. Anyway, short and spiky hair beats not having hair at all, thanks to minoxidil.

Public comments below, private comments: E-mail Me!
Back to Main Page: http://noeldlp.blogspot.com