Author:
Wexwiz543
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Date Posted: 19:32:59 02/23/13 Sat
>>I sadly have to agree that the demise of the original
>>barber shop is worrying here, (New England) too. We
>>have five shops left in my town and half of them now
>>have only women barbers. Needless to say that the
>>atmosphere in those shops, while not that of a salon,
>>is very different from what one would encounter in a
>>traditional shop.
>>
>>Don't get me wrong in that women don't do a good job
>>cutting hair, they do, but... Well... D#^& it, it
>>isn't the same any more AND then the last time I had
>>my hair cut a woman brought her three middle school
>>kids in for haircuts and two of those children were
>>female. All male comradery AND most of the men's mags
>>are gone too!!!
>>
>>HEAVY SIGH
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>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.
>
>Guess I might as well chime in here too. I'm well
>into my 80s and have been going to the same barber for
>close to 30 years. But he's just turned 70 and is only
>working 3 days a week. I live in a senior area, so
>it's not unusual to see men in their 80s, 90s and up
>coming in for their haircuts. What are we to do when
>'Ken' retires for good? Sad to contemplate.
I live near a military base. If the barbers off base want business, they must be able to cut a military cut or flat top. We have some older barbers that are still keeping busy, and a few new one's. We have had a licensing problem in our state with beauty operators not allowed to cut hair without a barber's license. We had a few of the beauty operators that could cut hair better than the barbers.
Wex
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