Dreads....They Ain't For Everybody!

I'm not sure there has been enough attention given to the fact that it's almost impossible to find a REAL Barber Shop nowadays. Oh the sign says Barber Shop out front. But inside, there's a bunch of 20-somethings with purple hair and paper clips in their eyebrows who have a "stylist" license. They claim they have one dude with a Barber License just in case someone comes in wanting a shave. But it's always his "day off" when you ask about him and you come to wonder if he really exists.

Tucker and I used to go to Jim's Today's Hair several years ago. He had been cutting hair in Lewisville since before WWII. If at all possible, we stayed out of his chair. He talked non-stop until you felt like your ears were bleeding and never really got past the Kennedy assassination.

Then one day, I wandered into Jim's and got a real shocker. I had discovered Barber Shop Gold. Jim had sold out to Al and Desmond and that resulted in Tucker and I enjoying some of the most entertaining Saturday afternoons we ever experienced.

I asked Al what kind of response he was getting from Jim's regulars. He said that "many of them open the door, see me and Des, and just turn and walk away....that we ain't all EVOLVED yet." Al and Desmond adorned their walls with pictures of famous black athletes going all the way back to Jesse Owens. The first time I took Tuck in I told him to look at the pictures and inquire as to where the picture of Larry Bird was. Tuck did as I suggested and they nearly fell to the floor laughing.

This was a real Barber Shop! Insults, arguments, debates, jokes, criticisms, and sports talk abound. No one is safe and apparently any topic is open for discussion.

Tucker was first in the chair one day. He has his mom's hair and it's so thick you can't separate his hair to find his scalp. That's the only resentment I have toward the kid. As I settled into Al's chair I mentioned that Tuck get his thick hair from me. Al laughed and said, "Kev, your hair's so thin I can see what you're thinking!" Can you believe he said that to a paying customer?

Al went on to explain that as a professional Barber, his job was to not only cut hair, but to make me a "self-aware" man. Al thinks that the the lack of self-awareness is one of the greatest plagues on our society.

Shoe arrived at the exact same conclusion just a few weeks ago when commenting on the Blog. Shoe surmises that my "shtick" about being surrounded by idiots has a certain plausibility, but that people really aren't that stupid. He believes that the root of the problem stems from a complete, total, 100% lack of self-awareness. All in all people are just clueless to themselves and to everything that's going on around them.

I suppose those websites dedicated to "pictures from WalMart" support Shoe's hypothesis. Do these people actually get dressed, look in the mirror, and think, "yea, this works?"

Yesterday, Teresa and I were in a very crowded parking lot and were stuck behind two older, portly women walking right down the middle of the aisle with three cars stacked in behind them! Clueless to their surroundings. A complete lack of awareness!

Tucker used to joke that he was going to let his hair grow out and twist it into dreadlocks. I mentioned it to Al one day and without hesitation, Al said, "They ain't for everybody."

I think Al's words of wisdom could be applied to almost everyone on the planet.

Just fill in the blank. Thousands of pursuits apply. We were driving in downtown Nashville last Sunday night with the windows down listening to the live music emanating from the taverns. We heard this noise that sounded something akin to a wildebeest in heat singing, "Stand By Your Man!"

From dreadlocks, to spandex, to bow-ties, to stages.......they just ain't for everybody! Just ask Al!