Five Kids and a Barber

Five Kids and a Barber

It was a humid and warm day as the Old Barber Joseph, but everyone calls him Jo, was waiting in his shop.

The advertising in his window got him some customers, but not as much as he had hoped.

A few years ago the sign of “Summer Haircut $5” was the best indicator for the summertime, but nowadays, the kids no longer wanted buzzcuts or crewcuts but some others styles Jo couldn’t do.

He was an old school barber, if you would sit in his chair, getting a haircut, and didn’t start a conversation, he sure didn’t.

Then the little doorbell rang, and 5 kids walked in.

The biggest one looked like 8 years and the youngest maybe 5, all of them had rather long hair.

The leader of the group spoke up.

“Summer Haircuts please.”.

“All of you?”.

He nodded.

“Sure, hop right up, and I can get working.”, Jo announced, and the leader sat down in the barber chair and the other 4 sat down in the waiting area.

Jo switched on the TV his son had installed, so the kids were occupied and won’t run around the shop.

A cape was thrown around the kid and tightly secured around his neck.

Jo combed the kid’s brown Hair a bit, struggling with the sweaty hair and started cutting large clumps off, his shears made quick work and reduces the majority of his hair in no time.

As he had reduced the length enough he was switching to clippers, with a 1/8 guard and droves them over his head, sending even more hair down.

After a few passes, Jo removed the cape and looked at the other waiting kids.

As none of them stood up or even looked up, Jo took the liberty of choosing the next one.

Of the 4 remaining kids, one was blond, two had black and the last one had brown hair.

Jo didn’t hesitate and chose one of the black haired ones.

This time he didn’t bother with the scissors and switched the clippers straight on.

Jo drove them right down the middle from the front to the back, a wave of black hair dropped to the earlier cut brown looks and began to pile up.

It didn’t take long to shear the second one and after about 2 minutes the kid was done.

After removing the cape, the kid was rubbing his head while walking over to the waiting area.

This time Jo chose the brown haired one, his hair was the longest of the bunch and could even form a small Ponytail in the back.

Jo picked up the scissors and began his work, lift up and cut. It didn’t took him longer than the first one to start the clippers back on.

The remaining brown hair tumbled down without a hitch.

The same choosing procedure resulted in the blonde kid sitting in the chair.

The kid had very fine hair, but Jo didn’t really care that much.

He could swap out the guard for a 1/4 one, then the kid wouldn’t look bald afterward, but then he needed to switch back for the last one.

After this little, thought, he drove the clippers straight over the kid’s head, without changing the guard.

As Jo sat the last kid onto his chair and getting ready for the last buzz cut, a woman entered the shop.

She immediately started talking with one of the kids, without greeting or acknowledging Jo at all.

From time to time this happened and Jo did his best to ignore her and rather focus on the task at hand, namely the buzz cut of the last kid.

He started with the scissors and after a short while he finished with the clippers.

As Jo flicked the cape from the kid, the woman suddenly stood beside him.

“Here we go.”, though Jo.

“How could you do this? Are you blind or something?”, she started to bombard him.

“Mam. If you tell me what you think, I did wrong, I’m sure we’ll figure something out.”, Jo answered calmly.

“What you did? Can’t you see, that she is a girl and not a boy?”, the woman burst out.

Jo looked at the kids, now with identical buzz cuts, and began to think.

“With all respect, none of these kids said anything about being a girl or that one of them was one. And what should I do now? I can’t let her hair regrow, done is done.”, Jo explained.

The woman looked baffled.

“I’m not paying for the cuts then.”, The woman said threatening.

“Then I will call the police.”, Jo returned.

“You can’t do that, i didn’t do anything wrong!”, explained the woman.

“You are refusing to pay for my service. But I have an idea. I will only charge you one of the cuts, if you also get one.”, Jo offered.

“Getting a haircut here? Absurd.”, The woman exclaimed.

“You need to pay for all five cuts or I call the police.”, Jo explained and turned the chair to her.

After a minute or two she moved over to the chair and sat down, Jo immediately threw the cape around her and secured it tightly.

He opened her hair and brushed it slightly.

“Just a Trim.”, The woman said, but Jo had other plans.

“You know young lady, here in my shop. We cut hair and something like a trim doesn’t sound like a haircut to me.”, Jo explained, and before she could object he drove the clippers into her hair, this time without any guard.

The woman screamed and wanted to get up, but Jo was stronger and held her in the chair.

After the first path over her head was done, Jo turned her head to look into the mirror, and then she froze.

She knew that she had lost and couldn’t do anything else than letting him finish.

The eyes of the kids were glued to her as Jo drove pass after pass over her head.

“Not done yet.”, Jo told her immediately after the clippers felt silent.

He spread some foam over her head and took out an n old and sharp looking Razor.

“Now don’t move. You don’t want me to cut you.”, Jo commanded.

Slowly and steady, he scrapped across her head, removing the tiny hairs left behind from the clippers.

As he was done, he spread some sunscreen over her head and removed the cape.

“One summer cut for Adults $5.”, He announced and held his hand open.

With a shacking hand, the woman opened her purse and took out a $10 bill.

“Thank you. $5 change back.”, Said Jo, and handed the bill back.

Jo took a broom and while he was cleaning the woman and the kids left his shop into the warm day, all of them rubbing their hands over their heads.

Jo was sure that he will see them again.

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