COVID-CUTZ

I never went to an actual barbershop for a haircut until I was in college.  As children, my grandmother cut our hair, and later mom took a shot at it.  This was the 60’s, hair was short, and how much style did a pre-teen actually need back then?

You knew it was truly summer when the clippers came out and your hair got buzzed off.  It was easier to keep 3 little boys clean during the school break if there was no long hair in the way.

During Junior High and High School, it seemed like there was a string of neighbors, ladies from the church or mom’s friends that “knew how to cut hair” and took care of it, usually in our kitchen.

That wasn’t convenient in college, so I had to learn to go to a professional to get my hair cut – with one of the most daunting questions, “how do you want it cut”?

What?  There are styles?  And I have to make decisions?

This was fairly easy, though, as my hair tended to stay close to the same style into adulthood, at least until it started deserting me a few years ago.  Then I learned the value of a true stylist who could camouflage and enhance the few attributes remaining.

That is, I could until March 2020.

I missed my appointment (they happen about every 3 weeks) in early March, and suddenly there were no appointments.  That means I’m about 8 weeks, or about 3 haircuts, behind.

It’s not likely to get any better in the near future, either, because my current hairstylist – like most of the others across the country – is going to be booked solid for weeks out and I understand that those ladies needing cut and color are lots more important (and profitable) than one guy just needing to find his ears again.

So today, after deciding that a cap simply isn’t going to cut it any longer, a decision was made that something had to be done.

I went to a new place that can operate while we are on lockdown – COVID-CUTZ.  This is, as you might imagine, a no-frills salon.  There is no shampoo person nor once you are in the chair (which just happens to be the toilet in the upstairs bathroom) are you gently whirled around so that the stylist can get the perfect angle.

The advantage is that I don’t have to answer the question, “How do you want your hair cut?”

There is no choice.  You’ll get what you get, and we’ll know what that is once it’s finished. 

So what do you think?  It’s certainly much lighter and cooler than it was before (especially when I was trying to hide that mop under a cap), and it does allow the thin spot to blend in a bit more than when the hair is longer.

Who knows, I may even decide to keep it.