Posted on 10/08/2011 6:32:47 AM PDT by Kaslin
Periodically, when I want to really understand the mood of America, I return to my home town of Clifton Springs, NY, and get a haircut from my old barber, Frankie D.
His is a barbershop from the old days with two antique barber chairs, a cramped waiting area filled with old magazines, and always a ballgame on the television.
The smell of Old Spice and Noxzema shaving cream combined with the heavy aroma of talcum powder takes me back to another era, and is definitely worth the price of a $12 haircut.
No fancy hairstyle, no salon treatment, no bells or whistles, just a good old-fashioned haircut.
Along with a cut, you get the unique views and opinions of Frankie D., along with his 80 years of visionary wisdom. I asked him about the unfortunate recent death of Steve Jobs, and how Jobs impacted Frankie D’s life.
Frankie doesn’t own a cell phone, nor an iPod or an iPad, but he does own an old-time Mac that he purchased many years ago.
“Pretty good,” he said, “but it’s currently unplugged.”
Frankie added, “Jobs was like another Thomas Edison, but a better marketer. Jobs learned his craft from P.T. Barnum.”
“Huh,” I exclaimed.
“Sure,” he said, “He’s just like that guy from Starbucks. He gets people hooked, and then they believe they can’t live without their Starbucks fix.”
Not waiting for me to comment, Frankie launched into a soliloquy on how the American public, and in fact the world, is hooked on caffeine and sugar, which are the two main ingredients that are so important for Starbuck’s special formula of success.
He took a breather long enough for me to interject a quick question.
“But how about the free Wi-Fi, the music, all the other goodies, along with the cultural experience,” I asked.
“It’s simple,” Frankie replied, “P. T Barnum, it’s all marketing, it’s just caffeine and sugar.”
He added, “That Jobs guy, he produced some really great products.”
Once again I snuck in a quick query, “But why do people always need his next upgrade if it’s all just marketing, iPhone5, iPad2, iPod6, or whatever?”
“Are you kidding me,” Frankie D. ranted, “He had them hooked, just like that Starbuck’s guy – caffeine and sugar.”
“Well,” I said, “You’ve got to give both guys credit; don’t you think they were both very successful as people kept returning to their products?”
“Absolutely,” Frankie D. replied. “If you get em hooked, they always come back, P. T Barnum at its finest.”
He went on, “After all, you came back for a haircut, didn’t ya? That’ll be 12 bucks.”
The memories were great, the perspective interesting, and the haircut, oh well, it’ll grow back.
Nostalgia? I’ll give you nostalgia - shave and a haircut, two bits!
—thought I’d get a “nostalgic” haircut a few years ago—big disappointment—nobody else in the shop and the guy didn’t even realize that the California border was a couple of miles to the southwest—sure didn’t have much to gossip about-—
Jack in Baden cuts my hair. He is a really Unique guy.
He has been cutting my hair for 40 years.
Hs hands are a bit shaky with the razor now , but you get the full treatmeny. Hair, Nose hair, eyebrows,shaves the edges.
jack gives a good cut, but the only difference between a good hair cut and a bad one is two weeks.
A bit like the news cycle. What happens today is old news two weeks from now.
TWELVE DOLLARS FOR A HAIRCUT? I always cut my own, and I used to bleach it, color it, perm it, when I was young, many many many years ago. But I still cut my own hair, I don’t let people come near my neck with sharp sissors! LOL I remember when boys got $1.25 haircuts in Oklahoma in the 1960s. But I still wouldn’t spend even THAT much to have someone do for me, what I can do for myself, for free. It is so easy.
It also doesn't hurt that Apple's stuff is manufactured overseas so their profit margins are huge, and, no unions!
On a more philosophical note, death has brought Steve Jobs level with the lowest coolie in one of his Chinese sweatshops. Death is the great equalizer. Think on that, ye mighty, and despair.
This is in the state of New York. Everything in the Northeast is more expensive due to the libtards mucking things up.
Me, I go to a barber shop run by Vietnamese immigrants. They do one heck of a traditional barbershop job. Some weekends, I go and get a straight-razor shave to go along with the haircut.
The Navel Legend I heard tell was that “Pieces of Eight” were coins pre-scored to break into eight “bits”. “Two bits” is a fourth of a dollar...twenty five cents.
When I was a kid in the 50s we had a neighbor who would cut hair for 10 cents. Nothing fancy, he didn’t do the shaving thing or extra trim but his haircuts were as good as any.
That was cheap even back then. I always suspected he just liked the company as he lived way back in the woods. Also he only cut hair on Saturdays.
The Barber is absolutely right.
I get my nostalgia haircut every two weeks. Ride my bike down the street wait in line tell a few jokes (unless there is a mother with kids there ).
The difference is I pay $15 (3 dollar tip). I have to say I really enjoy it.
I wouldn’t call it “wisdom” so much as an “opinion.” And you know what they say about opinions. (Sometimes they are right, sometimes they are wrong. What did you think I meant?)
12 bucks is really really cheap for a hair cut. My guy (basic barber) charges 18 and he’s under charging (at least for his quality) so I pay him 23. Cutting it myself would take way too long, and wouldn’t look half as good, and I wouldn’t get to visit with Dale and the gang.
It must be something with those Asians. I went to a Chinese barber once in western Canada. I spent what seemed like 2 minutes on his chair, and walked away with the best haircut I’ve ever had. LOL.
I get a cut and beard trim for $13. Just a a cut is $8.
My dad bought some clippers and cut our hair. .
There were four of us boys, so the family saved a dollar or two. The results? We looked like some prison mug shots . . or plucked chickens, depending on the kid.
Fortunately, when we were old enough to become aware of our looks, Mom put her foot down. We got to go to the barber shop with Dad. Then those girls started to notice us . . .
Jobs taught people to need things they couldn't even imagine, much less know they needed. Sugar and caffeine operate at a more basic physiologic level.
‘I wouldn’t call it “wisdom” so much as an “opinion.’
And not all that insightful an opinion at that. The world wasn’t “hooked on caffeine and sugar” before Starbucks? Lame.
Three chairs (one bears its date of manufacture -- 1959), two full-time barbers (Mark and Cathy [or maybe Kathy]), and one part-time barber, who may be C/Kathy's son, or who may not be. I'm not sure; I presume she is.
A screen door permits the breeze to come in when the weather is suitable, so the smell of hair tonic, aftershave, and talcum powder is usually faint. The linoleum floor is worn, as are the waiting chairs lined up along the wall facing the barbers' chairs. The Charlotte Observer is there, for folks who want to check up on doings in the city 25 miles to the north, sometimes a Monroe paper (Monroe being the county seat, 10 miles or so east of Waxhaw), plus a Waxhaw paper that seems to be published intermittently, plus, of course, Field and Stream and Popular Science, and various catalogs selling hunting supplies and guns. Two deer heads look down from the wall over the waiting seats; a boar's head had gotten so ratty that it was recently removed. A small, ancient TV is usually on Fox News, unless there's a game on (there usually isn't, since I most often go on a weekday).
I wander in whenever I'm feeling shaggy, take the first seat that comes empty, and ask for something like a lime green Mohawk or blue spikes, and everyone pretends to find my old gag amusing, and then I get my usual "long crewcut," #2 guard on the sides, tapered in back. About 12-15 minutes or so, including a shave around the ears. I get up, look in the mirror, and say "oh, well -- thanks for trying," and they laugh again. They're used to me, I guess.
One thing I especially like about the place is that they let me bring my dog. So if you go there, and are greeted by a friendly Weimaraner, I'm probably there. If you want a quick trip back to the Eisenhower Administration, drop by for a trim if you're in the area.
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