Continuing readers will know I have this thing about current hair-cut shops. Here in Dayton I needed a haircut. Someone told me of the old place downtown which seemed to be my kind. Sure enough the old pole was twirling. 
The man inside the door said hi and referred me to the room on the left. I swear it was no bigger than 6 x 6. Hair from previous guys was still on the floor. An old gentleman, surely in his high 70s or 80s, roused himself. “Put your glasses anywhere,” he said. Then, without asking me how I want my hair cut, he began. I saw an open Bible so I asked him what he’s reading. “The Bible,” he said. “I’m in Matthew now. Do you read the Bible?” I told him I’m enjoying the Epistle of James currently. “That’s practical counsel.” I agreed and told him one seldom hears sermons based on James’ letter. That was the end of our conversation.
In the 6 x 6 next to ours, the men were talking about the Cincinnati Reds. “I watched few games in the past but for some reason my wife and I are watching a lot this year. They are exciting.” I wanted to tell him Chris Heisey was my ninth cousin once removed but I’m trying to learn to control my tongue.
Whereas the franchise places get you in and get you out, this barber believed that a haircut should have a tenure to it. I’m talking twenty minutes, twenty five. What it would look like in the end, I had no idea but decided to let him ply his trade. He cut my hair shorter than is my preference, but he removed the hair from my ears and shortened my eyebrows without my having to ask.
“I made you look pretty good,” he said. The hair cut price — $14.
Oh you just have to post a picture of the results. Did you get a stick of juicy fruit gum when he was finished? That my memory of ancient barbers from my youth
No, I did not get gum. No, I will not post a picture. If I did, you’d see a Costa Rica cap on my head, 24/7.