A barbershop or salon chair rental, they are all the same when you are seven years old living in a household where the mom was a stay at home mom, and her husband was a barber for the rest of the week. My granddad would give my father a haircut once a month, whether he needed it or not. Since my granddad was a barber, it would stand to reason that he did not want to come home and cut hair, too. Granddad would get my dad into the chair at home and give him a quick cut, known as the bur.
Three out of the five brothers in my father’s family were barbers in salon chair rentals. My dad was one of them that had done a salon space rental. My dad did not make his primary living at cutting hair for the family. He would cut the family’s hair once a month, whether they needed it or not in the tradition of my granddad, the bur. Once a month, whether my brother or a cousin required it or not, they would be summoned to the hair cutting chair, as tradition would have it, the bur as created. It would have started with them begging before they even sat down; please do not cut it so short this time. No matter how many words, pleads, or asking came, the bur cut won out.
One Saturday evening, dad told my brother to get into the chair he needed to cut his hair. ‘Could you leave it longer than before just this once,’ he added as dad started cutting. He was tired and had worked all day at his hair salon suite. My brother knew dad was tired. My brother would talk while dad cut his hair, but dad did not say a word. He just kept cutting. My brother asked again, dad, could you maybe not cut my hair so short’? Dad, maybe you could leave my bangs this time a little longer’? Though, dad just kept on cutting.
Dad cut and clipped like never before, still not saying a word. He even used the hair salon scissors in some situations to fix what had grown out too long. It seemed to me like my brother’s head of hair grows out in all different ways. At one point, I asked to be sure that dad knew he was not at the salon studio and that my brother wanted his hair to be a little longer. My dad kept on going without a word or acknowledgment.
Could we maybe leave my hair a little longer than usual? My brother asked. This time dad answered him with a ‘we will see.’ You could see the excitement in my brother at this statement, and he asked dad if he would leave his bangs. Dad put down the clippers and got the scissors and started cutting by hand.
Cutting by hand usually was an indicator that dad would almost finish, and it also met that dad would not be cutting my brother’s hair so short. You could see the sparkle in my brother’s eye, and everything was looking up for his haircut from dad. Dad had told my brother that he was getting older and that he should have stylish hair. My brother outgrew the simple hairstyle known as the bur.
If you have outgrown your commission paid salon job and you want to open your salon, contact Salon and Spa Galleria salon manager at 972-691-7300, where we can help make your dream come true.
