Hair cut

When does a haircut make news? When I'm trying to get one in Thailand.  Several people told me it shouldn't be that hard. There are people cutting hair on every corner here. But this is my head! First, there are a lot of people cutting hair but where did they learn? Second, most cut only women's hair.  I wanted a recommendation from someone who had used a person before. I got one from the Landlord lady about a guy down the road. 

Down the road is about a mile. So I go down the road one morning and when I get there the place is jammed and I don't have time to wait. Walk another mile back. 

Next day I leave a little early (Thais don't like to get up early unless someone is going to pay them) . I beat the crowd. No one there. I mean no one there. The barber is not around, but the door is open. I have 3 hours before I have to be back at the room and I've just walked a mile; I'm going to wait. 

I wait 15 minutes and the Barber shows up. Now, I don't speak Thai (same as yesterday, I still don't speak Thai) and we're motioning and he's speaking Thai and I'm speaking English. Finally, he understands I want a hair cut and not to sell him something! At this point I'm a total wreck. What the heck does this guy know? I can't tell him how I want my hair cut. He still looks half asleep but he feels sorry for me and turns the TV on to the BBC News.  At this point I figure there is going to be a lot of screaming and yelling and he wanted the TV to drown out the noise. I'm scared but I keep looking straight ahead and put my best fake smile on. I figure if I don't move my head I might have a better chance of it coming out decent. 

So the guy pulls out the clippers and oils them up. Puts a sheet around me and starts to cut. Every muscle in my body is tense (I'm thinking this will save me time in not going to the club for a workout) and he's cutting away, talking Thai and me pretending to understand. When he's done with the clippers out come the scissors. He's doing a pretty good job on the sides but has not touched the top. This is what I was afraid of. Short on the sides and a big clump of hair on the top (I know

my friend Bob might like to have that clump on the top). He's working away with the scissors and it's looking pretty good. 

I'm beginning to think maybe I'm out of the woods on this one. And then the RAZOR! Yes, I wrote RAZOR. When was the last time a Barber used a razor?  I was used to Great Clips! I thought I was a goner.  I could see the news flash, "American killed by Barber". He proceeded to shave around

my ears, neck and sideburns. Then it came to me. That's what it was like when I was a kid and the barbers put a little dab of shaving cream around the ears and shaved the neck, forty years ago! He offered to shave my face but I figured I was pretty lucky at this point no need to push it! The "long and short" of it is that it was a very nice job. I also felt much better once I was out of the chair and in one piece, and he charged me only $2. I liked it so much I'm going back in two weeks for a trim.  This time I might not shave before I leave.

Love Ya, Gary