The Haircut

One of the elemental things that is important to me is community, and this rainy Wednesday morning, the sense of being part of a community was strong as I went for a haircut at the same place I've been having my haircut for over ten years. It's a simple thing that reveals the knowledge and sense of interconnectedness that one feels in a small community. I knew which streets to head down in order to have the best chance of finding an onstreet parking space near the barbershop--the place is decidely a barbershop, not a salon. Even as I approached the storefront, my cutter, Pam, acknowledged me with wave of a hand holding scissors. I felt as home sitting on the shop-long black bench as I do in my own kitchen. Two crisp copies of the big-city newspaper awaited me, and the gentle banter of Pam and her client were as common and comforting as listening to NPR at home.

When it was my turn in the chair, we spoke our pleasantries and she asked me questions about the new house we are building and about Z. is doing, though it had been weeks (and, for her, hundreds of clients) since we last talked. We were quiet comfortably as well. When a usual suspect stepped out of the coffeeshop next door that I recognized but didn't know, I'd ask Pam who he was. Of course, she knew. The same people have the same routines, but instead of this being monotonously or dreadful, it was comforting. The long-haired Native American-looking man whom I have seen downtown for years, Pam informed me, is an architect. For a while, the signboard for the barbershop enticed sidewalk passersby by that "four out five women prefer men with short hair." The architect, who sports a black ponytail down the length of his back, would jokingly knock on the window, point to the sign, and feign a look of exasperation.

This is another reason why my town fits me so well. The biking, running, and teaching opprtunities create a synergy for me that affects my reading and writing, but there are other elemental things that nurture my sense of self in this place that has so much there there.