Barber shop

So I think I've finally solved my barbershop connundrum.

In the olden days in Hometown there were a number of choices to be had if a fella was ever in need of a haircut.
There was Vic, there was John and there was the old boy down Damgate Street who was so old he closed up and retired when I was just a kid.

I mostly went to Vic

When I returned for the first time in 2000 there was no Vic anymore but there was a new kid in town. I let him cut my hair. Then I moved to New York and spent a number of happy years visiting the wacky singing Park Slope barbers on 7th Avenue. I loved those guys, even if they were a bit odd.

When I returned for the second time I once again gave the new kid my hair related business.

I used to go to the new kid until very recently.

I stopped going to the new kid for a number of small reasons, you know the way and inkling can become an itch which can become a query which then turns into an 'i dunno, maybe I'm bored of you' which becomes a 'soddit, I'm trying something new'.

Following a dodgy trim for my lil'un at the new kid's place and a chat with a friend I decide to give John another try. The thing is, John is no longer John but the bloke who bought the business from John a couple of years back. He's still waiting to put up a new sign.

I'd taken lil'un in there a while ago and the bloke who ran it was dead nice. Not all ooey gooey over the boy but neither was he slightly put out that I'd brought a toddler into his shop. He was friendly and normal and that's all I want. Not only that, he'd done a good job on the lil'un and kept him amused with a tractor impression.

This morning I ducked into his shop, had a great chat about Christmas, Olive oil (he loves the stuff, could drink it in pints), traditional and organic herbal remedies, the recession, what will Hometown do without Woolies, the pros and cons of shoplifting, business and beer.

We chatted so much he cut off a lot of my hair.

He cut off a lot of my hair and, as my sister was quick to point out, gave me exactly the same style as he gave the Lil'un a couple of weeks ago.

Still, that's what I went in for.