Misplaced Loyalty: A Cautionary Tale About Barber & Client

Misplaced Loyalty: A Cautionary Tale About Barber & Client

The bond between client and barber is a sacred one.  Think back to the very first haircut you ever had…almost every one of us was nervous sitting in a chair while a stranger with scissors or a loud vibrating clipper slowing inched towards your scalp.  But lucky for us that nervousness faded away.  You started to trust your barber and you kept going back.  As long as your haircut looked the way you always wanted it, you had no reason to ever let anyone else cut your hair.  That guy pretty much became family.

For me, I went to the same barber for years.  Growing up in Crown Heights, Brooklyn in a household with working-class parents, my barber came through; 10 bucks for a medium caesar and free cuts on my birthday.  I kept going to my barber well into my 20s and even though a cut costs around $20+ today, he still charged me $10 (I gave a great tip though) for the same medium caesar.  

Eventually, I moved out of Brooklyn; stayed in NYC but I wasn’t willing to commute 1½ hours to see my old barber.  Started seeing a barber in my new neighborhood in Queens that a friend recommended.  He gave decent cuts, nothing amazing but, he got the job done.  Kept seeing him for close to a year until my girlfriend tells me she doesn’t like how he cuts my hair.  She tells me she knows a better one and recommends that I go visit…HER, and not only that, I had to go all the way to Jersey City, NJ!  

It’s bad enough that I felt like I was cheating on my barber, but now I was going to a female barber.  Unheard of in my community and guaranteed to get confused looks.  I took a look at my soon to be new barber’s Instagram page and liked what I saw (IG: Ladyjaekutz).  When I sat in her chair, she schooled me on the direction my hair grew, my hair type, what products I should/shouldn’t be using, and the fact that my hair was thinning in a certain spot because my past barbers were too rough on my scalp with the clippers.  This was sage-like advice that I never had before and would never have gotten had I not taken a chance.  Happy I did though.  Love my new barber.

This piece is not meant to rag on my past barbers or promote my current one.  For every great barber, there is a….not so great one that has the potential to be better.  For these men (and women) we trust with our image, it’s like we’re married to them.  That loyalty doesn’t come easy. I know it’s hard to switch barbers, believe me…I understand.  But it’s even harder to get out of that chair knowing that you could look better.  Don’t let misplaced loyalty ruin your image.

 

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *