When Is A Barber A Hairdresser

For almost 70 years I have been having my hair cut by a barber. My early barber was either Mom or Dad. They were both good and had a barber set purchased through the Family Herald. This was a rural or farmers paper out of Winnipeg.You could get almost everything from the trade pages and we did.

Later in life I had my hair cut by one of the family except when something special was on and I went to Bert Davis  and he cut your hair for $.20. I liked to go there and wait for a while as he had girlie magazines, the ones that Mom forbade me to look at. He also had a slot machine in the back room and you could play it for pennies or nickels. This also was a no  no for Mom.

I just arrived home from Florida and attended a Easter dinner. With a broken tooth preventing me from smiling or even grinning the kids told me my hair made me look like a hippie. I decided to get to the barber.I found a dozen ways of hiding that front tooth from showing up in the family pictures but wearing a hat was out of the question.

Early yesterday morning I went to what I thought was a barber. Magic cuts was the name as I thought that for once their magic could cover up that light spot on the top of my head, I entered this bright room with no less than six lovely ladies looking for business. I was their first victim. I had been working in the yard previously and noticed my clothes looked a little out of place. This young lady came and placed some fancy clothes around my neck and asked if I wanted my hair washed before or after. I just washed my hair last night but said before.

I quickly and I mean quickly found myself laying back and a torrent of hot water completely engulfed my head, Two minutes and it was over and then she asked me how I wanted my hair cut, with scissors or clippers. I said both and she started but continued with a hundred questions. I was never asked questions before and I asked the barber what all the fuss was, all I wanted was a haircut. She firmly answered that she was not a barber but a hair stylist. Boy was I in the wrong place.

I went quiet in my shell and never looked up until she held that damn mirror over my bald spot and asked how it looked. Actually it looked worse because she cut some more hair off the top. I attempted to get out of the chair but she was not done. A variety of sprays were available. I wanted to get away and waved her smelly stuff back to the counter.

It was here I realized the difference between a barber and a hairdresser. How much I asked noting that it was senior day.Well then it will be $16.50 rather than $21.50. So the difference is $5.00 on senior day but at my barber in Cape Coral it is $8.00 every day. I learned something yesterday...if one of my family gets in that business I want them to be a hair stylist.