My dad's favorite barber died today.
He was shot near his workplace by people who mistook him for a co-worker. These thugs were sent by a man whose wife he caught cheating on with that other barber. He was a good man, my dad said. I think people who work with hair are. Well, most of them anyway.
Barbers and hairstylists not only make you look great, they are great storytellers. Patrons, who while their time away while being serviced, tend to become chatty to them. They are vessels of full- and half-truths. When they tell their own version, it becomes muddled up. A messy story, but an amusing one. Half-truths though might get you killed, like what happened to Noel (my dad's barber's name). It's sad that he didn't get to live up to Christmas this year, given his name. The man who the assassins were supposed to do away with never reported back to work.
Truth be told, they are entertainers, and people need that to escape boredom. Going to a salon or a barbershop is a break from daily monotony. Creatures of habit, like us, like that.
That's why I enjoy getting a haircut. We all have our ways of taking breaks, and this is mine.
Disclaimer: The man in the title picture is not Noel.


















