The barbershop

No, not the movie The Barbershop. The actual place where you go and get your hair cut. The Baraboo News Republic has a piece up on barbershops, and it got me thinking a bit. I have 6 people cut my hair in my life, and only three have done it more than once, and all of them are barbers. Until I went to college, I took the barbershop for granted. I just assumed that every town had several good barbers in the old barber style. Once I got to school in the fall of 1994, I discovered how many men actually went to hairstylists, and what an endangered species a good barber is today. For several years, I drove back home, a 4 hour drive, just so I could sit in a room with yellowed newspaper clippings on the wall, listen to the chat of farmers and the latest town gossip, and get my hair cut by a man in his 60's who still used the straight edged razor for some of the fine work on the back of my neck. It was a place where you went to the bar next door to wait, and the barber pounded on the wall to let you know he was ready for you. It eventually became inconvenient for me to continue to travel 4 hours for the hair cut, so I found a suitable barber in my current part of the state. In the search, I discovered that not only are barbers becoming rare, their average age is getting pretty old. I challenge you to find a 35 year old barber.

So men, I have a challenge for you. Just once this year, give your over priced hairstylist a haircut off, and check out one of your local barbershops. You'll learn deep background on town politics, intricacies of the farm, and even a good joke. You'll meet some great people. If you go to the right place, you may even be able to enjoy a brew while you wait. Just once a year, give this fading piece of Americana your $9.

Side Note:
In the article, one barber says this:

"You can't be a Democrat, you can't be a Republican. You have to bite your tongue - it's the financial advantage," he said. "

Sadly, this barber has not learned an important lesson. It is the customer who must hold their tounge. My old hometown barber had a cartoon on his wall directly across from the chair. That newspaper must have been 25 years old. In the strip, the customer argues politics with the barber. The customer then leaves with a bald spot in the back of his head. It was his subtle, friendly warning to customers of their place in his shop. In the barbershop, the customer is the one to bite the tounge.