Barbershops
Regular readers may recall I grew up abroad. But I recall that on those summers that I spent in the US at my grandparent’s home, when I needed a haircut, my grandfather would take me to the same barbershop to which he went. My grandfather passed away a few years ago at 95. The barbershop is also gone.
For the past few years, I’ve been getting my hair cut at one of those Fantastic Sums or Supercuts – I’m not even sure which – around the corner from my apartment. Now, at the Ex-GF’s place in Silver Lake, I have been frequenting an actual honest to goodness old-style barbershop. Not the really old style, medieval bloodletting places, but the kind of place you probably would have seen in the 1950s. Its not exactly like the 1950s – there’s an ethnically mixed clientelle, they use electric clippers, there’s a tv on the wall, and some of the magazines are from more recent decades as well.
Prices are about the same as at a Fantastic Sam’s or Supercuts or wherever I was going for the past few years, and I like the haircut better. I note this place doesn’t seem to have any trouble attracting business. So why are barbershops disappearing?
I always tip very generously (in total, paying more than what a men’s cut would at a salon), simply because I want to let the barber know that I appreciate his old fashoned style, heart, and morals. Also to let him know that theres still a few people left who appreciate the barber more than fast food.