| Subject: Re: Change isn't always good |
Author:
Boyd Percy
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Date Posted: 15:15:08 02/19/13 Tue
In reply to:
Wes
's message, "Change isn't always good" on 12:43:58 02/19/13 Tue
>Another column I originally wrote for the paper:
>
>----------------
>
>Sometimes change comes so slowly that we don't notice
>it, until we reach the point where we look up and say,
>"What the heck happened?"
>
>Case in point: the long-venerated institution of the
>American barbershop is dying and nobody seems to
>notice it or mourn the passing.
>
> I just had a haircut. For many years I've gone to a
>barber in a nearby town. He's an old friend dating
>back to school days, and I'm comfortable with him. The
>only thing is that like me, he's not a spring chicken
>any more, and his hours have gotten spotty as he tries
>to dial down his work hours. What with one thing and
>another he can be hard to catch up with, and I was
>long past the point where I needed to have a haircut.
>
>Finally it got to the point of being ridiculous.
>
>You can hardly find a real barber any more. A glance
>at the phone book revealed that there are only a
>handful left in the county, and some of those are too
>far away or unusable for other reasons.
>
>Now, this is not a new issue; it's been going on for a
>while. Some time ago I asked my barber friend why
>there are only old coots still cutting hair in the
>traditional way, and he said that all the business is
>going to hairdressers.
>
>Finally I reached the point where my hair was driving
>me nuts. It was getting to the point of either
>deciding to let it grow out so I could put it in a
>pony tail, which I think looks silly on a guy as old
>and bald as I am, or biting the bullet and going to a
>hairdresser. So, after some putting it off, I went up
>the street to a hairdresser who I've been friendly
>with for years.
>
>OK, I'll be fair: she did a good job and was quick
>about it. She was cheerful and talkative, and it was
>good to catch up on a few things in her life.
>
>But darn it, the place was full of Redbook and
>People magazines. There was a definite
>insufficiency of Field and Streams and Popular
>Mechanics. There was no one there who knew how
>much ice was on the lake, whether it would be safe to
>go ice fishing or not, or such important topics. No
>one had an opinion on how the winter was treating the
>local deer herd, or gave a damn. There were no
>opinions about how well Matt Kenseth is going to do
>driving for Joe Gibbs. There was little there that
>made me comfortable like I would have been in a
>traditional barbershop.
>
>Like I said, the haircut was all right, but under the
>circumstances the only thing I got out of it was
>shorter hair. There was none of the male certifying
>experience that comes out of going to a real live
>barbershop.
>
>It could be this is happening because of the
>increasing homogenization of society, of the loss of
>the traditional male and female roles.
>
>I suppose there are reasons for the vanishing of the
>American barber. I know nothing about the business
>aspects, and I would be reluctant to advise some young
>man to go into the trade, just knowing that the field
>is drying up and dying. That doesn't mean I wouldn't
>like to see it, though.
>
>Even Google doesn't seem to notice the dying of the
>insitution. All I came up with was the following
>statement from a career description site: "Demand for
>more specialized forms of hair treatment is expected
>to drive more customers toward multi-service hair
>salons and fewer toward traditional barber shops." My
>guess is that they're probably right, and that the
>market for the old traditonal male-bonding barber shop
>is decreasing.
>
>Sorry, I'm a crusty old coot in ways. I understand
>times are changing but this is one change I don't want
>to see.
Amen! I totally agree with your column. Fortunately, I go to a shop with 3 barbers. The one who usually cuts my hair is in his early 40s so he'll probably outlast me. I took my 16 year grandson to my barbershop for a haircut at his request. He only wanted his massive mop of hair thinned. He got pissed off when the barber cut too (?) much hair. Man, I wish I had half the amount of hair my grandson has. Next time he can go to the hair stylist my wife uses. She'll usually caters to his whims.
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