I am about to head out to get my haircut at my barbershop – shoutout Fly Guys Barbershop in Middletown, NJ – and I can’t help but reminisce about the pre-covid trips to the shop.
Going to the barbershop was MISERABLE. You used to have to block out an entire half day to sit and wait for someones chair to open up and it be your turn to get cut. How the barbers remembered the order in which people came in – I will never comprehend that.
Now you make a reservation, go in at that time, and leave 40 minutes later. It is INCREDIBLE. I’m sure this hurt the barbers themselves because they can’t just grind out cuts and make a shitload of money when it is busy. They have to actually take the allotted time for each haircut. But I am not a barber, so I don’t give a shit.
I am also a very awkward person and don’t appreciate the conversations that are shoved down my throat in a packed barbershop. I like to sit in silence and get a haircut. I will leave a generous tip 100% of the time. Don’t drag me into conversations that mean absolutely nothing to me. There is always regulars in there who sound like they just go to the barbershop to chop it up with the people who are cutting other peoples hair. You know who I am talking about – they are there every time you go and not once have they gotten a haircut.
The barbershop is now never packed to the point where it is 90 degrees and you have to sit on the windowsill with the sun beating through the glass making your back turn into a goddamn ocean. It is incredible. You don’t have to wonder if you will be able to leave in time to go do something. You can go in, relax, and enjoy yourself every time you go in.
A Fan With A Mic 