Barbearia
Some of you might have noticed that I keep my hair kinda long of late. So when I want to cut it, the length I want is longer than what a machine would cut it. This means I have to find a barber (hairdressers don’t seem to want to deal with me) that can use a scissors and that really has become a harrowing mission. Something I’ve learnt from travelling around is that you gotta choose the old barbers. The old guys have been around since scissors was the only way to cut hair and so at least they know how to use it. It’s a pity that their doesn’t seem to be much old schoolers around, only pants-hanging, hip hop R and B, what’s-up-bro, I’m-a-gangsta youngsters.
I mean, I think it’s perfectly obvious that if some asks you to only cut the tips off of long curly hair that you have got to employ some method of getting to the ends of the curly hair so that you can cut it. But no, the method apprently is to rush in with all the subtlety of a hedge trimmimg gardener (admittedly there were startling similarities between my head and a hedge at the time). To tell you the truth, I should have shoved the idiot’s cornrolled head up into his, no doubt, cornrolled ass. He knew nothing about cutting hair! I tried to patiently explain but he diligently watched my elaborate mimes and listened nodding to my English/French/Portuguese directions and went heedlessly on continuing his pedagogical application of The Idiot’s Guide to Being an Idiot.
I can’t apportion all the blame away from myself. It is after all the second or third time I make a hopeless choice of barbers in my travels and I watch in horror as my politeness comes to an end just after its too late to stop the butchering. Then I have to sit it out in agony, waiting for the my hair to resemble some measure of symmetry before I can ask them to stop. Please, please stop. And another thing: why do barbers always have to do this one or two clip-clips of empty air above your head just before they finally finish? Is it embellish their image of being the ultimate Class A perfectionist? Or is it to give you some comforting sort of closure?
At least this time I managed an intervention before I lost too much hair, unlike the idiots in Morocco who cut everything level down when they felt the hair was uneven and I was left the exact amount left on my head that they were supposed to cut off.
Anyway, I’m off to my hotel room to do some trimming in the bathroom mirror.
Tags: Cape Verde, Travel, Tag Index
Ghalied
April 3rd, 2007 at 9:55 am
Whats up my brother
Hairstyle problems hey Ill tell you what
I have been to many and still trying to
find nirvana when it comes to finding
someone who knows what they doing.
The search continues bro.
Why dont you try and mission more trying
to find like odd jobs so that you can
organise some cash flow to keep your
endless travels going for a extended period?
Friend of mine studied to be a CA got
work at a summer camp in the states for
a couple of months doin odd jobs like flippen
burgers. Do whateva you know just keep
the dream going.
Later
Morne
April 3rd, 2007 at 5:19 pm
Slm bru,
How u doin? U certainly enjoyin yourself seeing Africa in all its glory. Hey, u should have asked for dreads, I think the barber would have understood that. I’m sure that would really suprise your mom when you decide to visit Cape Town someday. I can’t say that I don’t envy you, i’m sitting behind a computer crunching numbers which is not at all exciting.
Thanks for writing your blog. It makes us losers realise that there is more to life than being tied down in a career.
Omar
April 4th, 2007 at 12:16 pm
Spare the clippers and keep the hairdo! Salaams G
Just had a look at your previous posts from exactly a year ago, you just handed in your resignation and appeared to be hard at work planning your trip to “Timbuktu”. One year later and you are now worried about your hair heeee. Just do as I do — number 1 on the sides and trim some from the top.
Not sure what style works these days but one thing I do now is that BLING is in. LOUD colours and willehare