Cutting Our Own Hair? Is it our newfound crust of freedom? (à la Richie Havens)

[GammaGlobulin]

My Dearest Friends,

 

We are now, suddenly, in a new world.

We have crossed the Rubicon.

And,...

I am now, seemingly, feeling completely released from my past dependency on barbers.

Praise the viral particle for this.

The particle has inadvertently set us free in unanticipated ways.

 

In fact, truth be told, I have now learned how to cut my hair with only a simple pair of scissors and a mirror; and the result is always JUST LIKE I LIKE IT... 

 

Not too long.

Not too short.

Not too hot, and not too cold….Think Goldilocks.

 

If you want something done right, then do it yourself…your hair cutting, particularly.

 

I will…NEVER…go back to the old ways of keeping my locks trimmed neatly.

There is no need to hire someone to do what I can easily do myself.

 

In OLDEN DAYS, in the 1960s, hair was much more important than it is today.

Hair, then, equated to freedom from the establishment.

Hair was a flag to be flown proudly.

 

It recently occurred to me that, after watching so many barbers cut my hair, over many decades, that I could easily do what I had seen them do, and do it just as well.

 

At the beginning, about a year ago, I faltered, not sure which hair to cut first.

 

But then, when I got into it, the tufts began to fall, and the end result was not half bad.

 

And not just not half bad, but now almost perfect.

I’m NOT talking about NO buzz cut, baby…. as I have heard some guys discuss on this forum.

I mean an almost perfect trim, front to back, but mostly in the front.

 

This is why I shall never go back to the old ways.

 

The only thing I worry about is what will all the barbers do, now that many of us, or dare I say most of us, have upped our game, and have already qualified ourselves as barbers, in our own right?

 

This is not some sort of ‘joke topic’, my friends.  I am writing this topic just after achieving my most perfect haircut, using only a simple mirror.

 

And I ask myself:  If I can cut my hair equally well, or even better than the random barber on any given soi, then why should I wait in line on a hot day, and pay the small amount of money (money is not the issue), not to mention the time it takes to find a barber that is open when needed, and waste the commuting time traveling to the barber, when I can do it myself, in the comfort of my own bathroom?

 

I have been watching barbers cut my hair month after month, for almost three quarters of a century.  And, after so many years of observation, who but an incompetant could not perform this simple grooming requirement on oneself? Anybody with a mirror can do it.  Gradually, my skills have improved.  And now, there is really no difference between my haircutting of my hair, and that of the barber’s efforts.

 

My question is not only whether or not you have decided to continue cutting your own hair, now that you have learned how, but do we not also worry about our former barber friends. We miss them, and they miss us. Yet, we live in a new world these days.

 

About two years ago, I spoke with my long-term barber, a woman in her 50s, with a bod that most obviously must have been super hot 30 years ago, concerning her plans.  She told me that she intended to sell her barber shop/salon and chill out for the rest of her days, just doing what she pleased.  I was relieved to hear this good news, and pleased that she had planned ahead for any eventuality.  She is a smart barber.  But, I wonder about the fate of some who may not have been as fortunate as she… 

 

Let me stop here and make this potentially-longer topic shorter.

 

The KEY Question posed in this topic is:  Do you plan to ever go back to the barber shop as regularly as you once did?

 

In my case, the answer is no. And, I might not be the only one who has moved on. There must be a huge cohort of individuals just like me…no doubt.

 

Are you one, too?

 

Best regards,

Globulin

 

Note One:   Having had no appointments with my barber for two years, I have sorely missed the closeness of a woman, and the scent of a woman leaning lightly against me, almost seductively. 

 

Up until two years ago, I had always returned to the same barber. In the past, this barberous contact was my only opportunity to have a woman touch me. Even now, after over two years, I can still feel her bod against mine.  

 

Her melons were ample and soft. I will always remember her for these. And, this is no small thing to do without.

 

This is no joke, my friends.  I have long become super sensitive to a woman’s touch, a result of my self-imposed chastity. (Please do not get me wrong: I have always remained very respectful while in her chair. And she has always been pleased to see me, on any occasion when we chanced to meet in passing, on the streets of our relatively small community.)

 

Note Two, regarding success cutting my hair, and being pleased with the progress I am making:  I can say that, after last night’s session in the bathroom with the mirror, just running my hand down the back of my head and neck, from crown to nape, the way my hair flows in back, it seems very much like a steep wooden Thai staircase. Yet, in all other respects, the hair looks great. Time is definitely on my side, and I will continue to improve.

 

Finally:  Two tunes, germane to this topic, are now running through my head, not to mention a third tune which mostly deals with melons.

 

Save the melons tune for later, maybe.

 

Havens sang this tune totally unprepared and unrehearsed, according to him. Sounds like freedom.

 

 

One of these guys, while perpetually singing about almost cutting his hair, has long since lost most of his hair...such a pity. And, such irony....

 

 

[Farmerslife]

Hair? Oh yes, I remember that stuff. 

 

Truthfully though,  I have been cutting what little remains for some years now. It's easy enough when you keep it very short and when it is a sparse as mine anything else would look frankly ludicrous. 

 

 The only thing I miss about my hair was the protection it gave me in the midday sun. A burnt bonce is no fun at all.

However, easily overcome by investing in a decent hat. No worries. 

 

 

[stoner]

a lot of your posts are kind of creepy. this one in particular. 

[law ling]

1. Barber B120 (Pattaya) is cheap enough - but I do envy upcountry towns where it's B50.

 

2. Have cut my own often: first when I lived in a third world country that I think didn't even have barbers; and second when I lived in a non-English-speaking first world country where it was just too problematic without knowing the local language.

[GammaGlobulin]

As referred to in the above topic, I remarked that I have been missing the company of my barber during the past almost three years.

 

Mostly, I miss her because I very much enjoyed chatting with her.

I invariably used to say Hi when I daily passed her hair salon.

She often wore these loose blouses, pleasantly unencumbered by straps and things.

She was just a free spirit and a fun person to know.

 

Nothing strange about it, really.

However, sitting in her chair, I often thought of various varieties of fruit, such as melons.

And then, while typing the topic, I recalled a song about melons, or was it about peaches...

 

Turns out, the song that I had been unable to recall was a great tune by The Steve Miller Band.

Maybe you know it.

This song is not about melons.

This song is about peaches.

This song brings back fond memories of my sitting in the barber chair, when we were far freer than we are today.

 

Now that my barber friend has sold her shop, and now that I have learned to cut hair, I may never see her again, although I think I might still have her LINE address.

 

I will miss her peaches, too.

She sometimes made fruit drinks in her blender.

Great barber.

 

 

 

 

[GammaGlobulin]

3 hours ago, stoner said:

a lot of your posts are kind of creepy. this one in particular. 

Do you mean 'creepy' in the good sense, such as creepiness evoked by the novel 'Carrie', or do you mean creepy like Cujo?