A cut above the rest

Today, I got my last haircut before going home.

For this final haircut, I decided to pamper myself and go to the town saloon for the full works of haircut, some dubious shaving and head massage for a whopping $0.20 more than what my regular guy charges…

One consistent thing throughout my stay here is that I learn something new every time I go for a haircut.

Today, I learnt that saying “Sideburns, yes” when the barber ask “Sideburns?” gives him the permission to do a Professor Xavier on half your head; while saying “Pain, NO!!!” during the head massage gives him free license to LITERALLY take a hammer to your head. It’s strange how a head looks more vulnerable when it is clean shaven, isn’t it?

I also learn an important life lesson during the hair cut today.

For the previous few haircuts, the barbers or one of their clients would enquire about my nationality since I look kinda different from the rest of them. And for the whole time, I’ve been able to dodge it with flippant answers such as “Kazakhstan”, “Nigeria” or “Tortillacheese” (it can be insanely satisfying to come up with fake nationalities. Give it a try!) or by playing the ever reliable “I’m a foreigner, I do not understand you” card.

It’s not that I am ashamed of my nationality but I would just like to think that it shouldn’t make a difference for people interacting for the very first time.

Anyway, before I go off on that tangent…

Today’s barber was the only one who was able to coax the information out of me.

How does he do it?

Well, that is the life lesson for the day.

“It’s hard to be flippant with a razor around your throat”