Perhaps a year or so ago I went to get a haircut at a barbershop. The barber was cool and once it was my turn he got to work. He cut my hair in record time and I thought to myself, “man, this guy is good.” He took the smock off of me and told me he was done. I looked at him and asked him to let me see the back with the mirror. His expression told me that something was off, that’s when he said, “oh, wait, I noticed something.” He then put the smock back on me and started to “fix” the thing he saw. Then he got the mirror and showed me.
Now you should know this about me, I’m not difficult or rude, but one thing I can’t stand is when someone doesn’t put in the effort they should. I also dislike being put in a position where I’m expected to be polite and not hurt someone’s feelings when they clearly didn’t do a good job. So this guy had left a bunch of long hairs by my ear and the fade didn’t look even to me. I told him what was wrong and asked him to fix it. We went through it a few times until I felt it was acceptable. Again, I’m not looking for perfection, but seriously, this is your job! Do it right and take pride in your work.
Several weeks later I went back to get a haircut, hoping to see my regular barber. I wasn’t going to get a buzz from this other guy again. It turns out my regular barber had left early. I was a bit frustrated because I had made the trip and my guy wasn’t around. This other barber then said to me, “Man, I don’t want to cut your hair again. You want a good haircut and that just takes too much time. I like to do quick haircuts and most people are fine with that. If you want a fast haircut, come to me. If you want a good haircut, go somewhere else. I do five people in the time most barbers do one or two. I go fast and get them out.”
I couldn’t believe what I was hearing and thought about telling the owner, but I’m not out to hurt anyone’s livelihood. Still, it annoyed me because that’s one less barber I’d trust at this place. They used to have another guy who was pretty good, and the owner does a great fade as well. But now this guy is the only partner, and honestly, he’s not motivated. He can do good work if he tries, but it seems he doesn’t want to.
I don’t understand how a professional could say, “I won’t cut your hair because you want a good haircut and I only do quick, average haircuts.” I don’t want that kind of attitude from anyone at the barbershop where I get my hair cut. I’ve stayed quiet for now, but I’m really tempted to tell the owner. Why? Because we deserve barbers who take pride in their work and provide quality service!
Just a life long New Yorker sharing the journey through my lens. Please take note of a post’s date. The views I express here are subject to change and evolving as I grow and learn.
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