I looked at my medium-length, dark brown hair in the large bathroom mirror. It had been four weeks since my last cut. It was starting to look scraggly on top and to sneak over the top of my ears. I reached down into the cabinet under the sink and pulled out a hand mirror. The back needed some cleaning up too. A haircut was definitely in order.

I ran a comb through my hair a couple of times and grabbed my wallet and keys. I went outside and got into my coupe to figure out my destination.

There were several options. It was a Friday afternoon, about 3:45 pm. One shop usually got some cute guys on Friday afternoons. Young, athletic guys with hair that started out short, but was taken down even shorter. Taper cuts .... buzz cuts ... sometimes the sides and back would be shaved clean.

I drove to that shop, located in a small strip mall. I as drove by, I tried to glance through the large plate glass window in front to check out what was going on. It looked like only one of the two chairs had a customer and someone was waiting, but it was hard to see. I circled back and parked directly in front of the shop, two doors down from a convenience store. I could see in the chair closest to the window was a young boy ... no guys my age. I sat in the car for a moment. "Maybe I should check another barbershop and come back," I thought.

Then I noticed three guys walking down the sidewalk. "Could they be going to the barbershop?" I thought. They passed the convenience store and walked past the windshield of my car. Two had medium length hair -- one straight light brown, one dark brown and wavy. The third had long hair -- straight, blond hair that covered most of his ears and came almost to his collar. They were all about 20. Each one of them was good looking in his own way. They all wore jeans. The two with brown hair wore t-shirts with "State College" on them. The blond wore a short sleeve polo shirt.

They entered the shop. I paused a moment in my car, then followed them in.

When I got inside, the guy with light brown hair was just settling down in the barber's chair further from the door. In the long row of chairs for waiting customers, the blond was seated a few seats away from an older man. The wavy haired guy was taking a magazine off a table. I sat down between the two. The wavy haired guy picked his magazine and sat down right next to me.

"What's it gonna be?" asked the barber as he wrapped tissue around the neck of the light brown haired guy. "Shorten it up?" he asked as he slung the cape around him.

"Yeah. Make it short like usual," was the reply.

The barber stepped around to the counter. He picked up the electric clippers.

The barber spoke. "So, is the game home or away this time?" he asked.

"We're here this time."

"You guys got off to a good season this year," the barber said as he started shaving up the back of the neck with the electric clippers.

"I know, we're 5 and 0."

 

As the barber continued tapering the brown hair, the other barber was finishing off the boy in the first chair. The boy was only about 12 and was squirming, anxious to be done. The barber reached for the spray bottle and wet down the boy's short, dirty-blond hair. He had given him a regular boy's cut. "Is this short enough?" the barber asked, addressing the older man seated next to me. The man stood up and looked at his son. "Yeah, looking better," the man said.

"All right, young man," said the barber, removing the cape from the boy. The man paid the barber and he and the boy left. "I'll see you in two weeks," said the barber with a smile.

"Next."

It was just us guys.

The one with dark wavy hair nudged his blond friend. "You go," he said. The blond approached the chair.

"What will it be?" the barber asked, as the blond sat down.

But before he could reply, the brown haired guy getting his hair cut spoke up from the other chair. "He wants to get it short too."

The wavy haired guy added, "Take it down tight. Give him a 'high and tight.'"

"No," protested the blond, as the barber placed the cape around him.

"Is that what we're doing?" asked the barber.

The blond replied, "No way guys."

"Yes way," said the wavy haired guy next to me.

"A bet's a bet," said the one in the other chair. "And you lost."

"Don't be a wuss," said the wavy haired guy. "It will grow back."

The blond hesitated. "Alright ... on the sides and back, like theirs," he said to the barber. "But not a crew cut."

"I'll taper it short on the sides, but not as short on the top," said the barber.

In the meantime, the other barber was still busy with the brown haired guy. He had tapered the back short and was working on the left side, shearing up the side with the electric clippers. He worked his way up and then stepped around to the other side and did the same. He stepped over to the counter, put the clippers down and picked up another. This one had an even shorter blade. He went over the back and sides again. The brown hair was almost gone on the sides and back now -- tapered almost up to the crown. The barber put his clippers down, took a scissors and started cutting the top. Locks of brown hair fell onto the cape.

Next, he unhooked the cape, shook off the brown hair that covered it, and placed it back around the neck. He brushed off the ears and neck.

The barber went over to the counter and released some shaving cream onto his hand. He stepped behind the brown haired guy. He smoothed some shaving cream around his right ear, then on the back, then around to the left ear. He picked up the razor, put his hand firmly on the head, and began cleaning him up around the ears and the back of the neck with the razor. When he was done, he put the razor down, rinsed off his hands, and with a paper towel and his hands, wiped off the remaining shaving cream from the ears and neck. Then he poured out a little aftershave on his hands, and wiped it around the ears and neck which he had just shaved.

The barber stepped around to the sink and picked up a spray bottle. He stepped back behind the guy and began wetting down his hair. He worked around from the right side, around back, to the left side, and then on top, pushing the brown hair back as he sprayed. When it was wet, he placed the bottle down.

"Are we doin' OK," said the barber, holding a mirror up to the back of the head of the guy with the just-cut hair. It was high and tight on the sides and back, and cut short on top and matted neatly to his head.

"Did you take the top down as much as you can?" asked the guy, feeling his hair on top.

"Yeah, any more and it will stick up," replied the barber.

"OK then."

The barber took off the cape. The guy with the fresh cut paid and sat down to wait for the others.

"OK," said the barber, looking at the wavy haired guy next to me.

He stood up, stepped forward, and sat down in the barber chair. "Buzz cut, this time," he announced without hesitation.

"You're sure?" said the barber.

"Yup, swimming starts soon, so its gotta go."

"Alright, then," said the barber, as he swung the cape around the neck of the guy whose wavy hair was soon to be a thing of the past. The barber ran his hands over the young man's hair a few times, then stepped over to the counter and picked up the electric clippers.

My attention turned back to the blond getting what I imagined to be his first really short haircut. Few signs of the long, blond hair he had come in with remained. The barber had already prepared the sides around the ears with a scissors and was snipping off the back too. He stepped over to the counter and placed the scissors down. He picked up the electric clippers. He stepped behind the blond and placed his hand firmly on his head. His experienced hands began to taper up the sides as the other barber had done with the brown haired guy. The barber tapered up the sides with the electric clippers giving him a short tapered cut. Then he turned his attention to the back and did the same. He stepped over to the counter, placed down the clippers and picked up another.

As he did, the brown haired guy, now sporting a new high and tight, stood up and stepped over to his blond friend in the chair. "How's it going?" he asked.

"It feels funny," said the blond. "Is it looking OK?"

"Yeah, but get the top shorter too."

The barber injected, "Don't worry. We still have a way to go."

The barber stepped behind the blond and went over the back and sides again with the other clippers. The blond's hair was very short now. This haircut was even shorter than the one the brown haired guy had received. You could see the skin up the sides and back on the blond head. The barber put the clippers down, took a scissors and started cutting the top. He stood behind the blond as he cut, lifting hair up with his fingers, holding it back, and clipping it down close to the scalp.

When he was done, he brushed off the ears and neck. Next, he unhooked the cape. Blond hair cascaded onto the floor. He placed the cape back around the neck. He proceeded to shave around the ears and neck. When he was done, he reached for the spray bottle and wet down the short cut blond hair. He stepped over to the counter and put some hair creme on his hands. He approached the blond. He touched his head and ran his hands over the new cut. Then he brushed the glistening blond hair down in place.

"Feel a little lighter now?" the barber asked.

"Yeah, let me see," said the blond with the short haircut.

"I made it tight on the sides and back and left a little more on top," explained the barber.

"Let's see," said the guy in the other barber chair whose buzz cut was taking shape. His waves were mostly gone now, shaved off in a pile of dark brown hair on the cape. The barber doing the buzz cut turned the chair around to face the blond. The guy with brown hair who had just gotten the high and tight also looked on, from the row of seats for waiting customers.

"Alright," said the one in the chair.

"It looks cool," said the other.

"Yeah, it's OK," said the blond.

He got out of the chair. As he stepped in front of me, I saw just how really good he looked with his new haircut. He went over to the mirror along the wall behind the waiting chairs. He put his hand on his head and felt his slicked-down hair as he looked in the mirror. He paid the barber. He turned again to the mirror and looked, feeling the back of his cleanly shaved neck. Then he sat down.

"Next," announced the barber who stood beside the barber chair closer to the door. It was my turn.