Today, I got the most efficient haircut ever.
I first tried to do the neighbourly thing and go to the hairdresser two houses next to mine. This is an artsy coiffeur who is so utterly gay that he has pink business cards. However, he couldn’t cut my hair at a reasonable time.
Now, I had seen this slightly seedy-looking barbershop (complete with barberpole and everything) on Ninth Avenue yesterday, two or three blocks away from my house. So I decided that as a bona fide BACman, it would be almost my duty to give it a try. Also, I thought, it would be authentic and possibly fun.
And boy was it fun. It’s like in the movies: You have three barbers (Italian, I think) cutting hair simultaneously, while a bunch of guys sit around in the back of the shop waiting for their turns. Only guys: There was a single woman in the room while I was there, and she was the company of one of the male customers. I took out my laptop and worked a bit for ten minutes, then this sixty-year-old barber called me. After minimal negotiation, he started cutting my hair, fast. It was like in those cartoons where the hair flies away in all directions, punctuated by the scissors’ snip-snip-snip. We didn’t talk; he just cut hair, like if it’s a service rather than an art form. Ten minutes after I had sat down, the haircutting was finished. That’s when he whipped out the shaving cream and started shaving my neck (without consulting me first). Guys, it is an experience to have someone shave any part of you with a naked razorblade. After some final applications of alcohol and powder, I paid and left.
So as of today, I’m a barbershop fan in more than one way. :)
