OH ,U WANT THE SCISSORS TO BE USED???

One of the many things that I miss from India is a good hair Saloon. Nearly for 6-8 years my barber was same, I used to get cut by same person no matter how busy he was. Reason being, there was no need to explain how to trim my hair. I simply transferred control of my head to him, he used to crop the way I want it.

So, here I come to LA hoping for some what similar hair cut that I had missed. One quick information though, In Los Angeles you find mostly Mexican Hair Saloons for reasonable price. Being a Student, you have to go there with no option left. Also Mexican men (Most of them) will like to keep the hair as short as possible; virtually you can see the skin on the head. Women Barbers also like to trim the hair the same way no matter who is in the hot seat!

When I went First time around, it wasn't that bad. It was kind of short, but was manageable. But, at that time I thought it was worst. Worst was early due this year. It was almost like I just came from a Dharmastala or Thirupathi after donating hair to god. Only difference was it was Mexican goddess [:P].You have to be careful to choose words when you try to explain how to cut your hair. Mexicans know English which is enough to survive. I said, don't cut short or something, probably lady just heard short and was happy to cut it short as possible. Mistake could be on my part as well. You see, I have one weakness; I can’t make it how much hair has been cut unless I look closely. Having no options, have to stick with Mexican saloons


Now am in San Diego for an Internship. My roommate suggested that, there is Chinese hair saloon near by and it’s quite good. So, I went trusting his words. There was a big surprise. It had turned out to be an Afro-American hair saloon. Having no other choice, had to go for it. So, I waited. Then came the weirdest conversation. A barber came near to me (I think he was the owner) and asked me whether I was here for hair cut. I said yes. Then he asked how I would like to the hair to be. I explained my usual style. Then he asked a question, which I dint see coming at all. He asked, "OH, U WANT THE SCISSORS TO BE USED?” I said yes, but inside me I was shell shocked. After he went away, I realized why he asked such a question. Usually, Afro-Americans have shorter hair (or no hair) compared to Mexicans. Most Afro-Americans visit hair saloon to basically clean of little grown hair. I felt it will be kind of rude if I walk out after this conversation. So I stayed there and hoped for the best. Then came my turn. There were plenty of Afro-Americans around; being a Sunday I presumed it was Barber family sitting around watching Rocky Balboa movie. Barber looked kind of confused when I sat for hair cut, but eventually he asked, how to trim my hair. I explained.
Confused barber started using his SCISSORS to trim my hair. Funny part was; he asked how long the hair would be, I mean literal measurement. I had to think for a moment and had to answer using inches unit. While he was struggling to, there was Barber's grandfather who kept starring at me as if he was seeing a hair cut for the first time in his career. Soon after some time one more Afro-American came and started shaving using electric shaver. So simple!
He was trimming my hair in weird way, but at the end it was almost what I had asked for. Though he was not proficient in cutting my type of hair, he some how figured out a way and did a pretty good job. In fact I was happy when it was done. I tipped him a couple of dollars for the extra effort.

I guess life is all about adapting to new challenges. New challenges could be faced in an innovative way, even if you had no clue about how to go. There is no harm trying different, after all what’s the worst that could happen? In this case, he could have screwed my hair, but he would have learnt from that experience.