Growing up money has always been tight, mom would never buy us brand new clothes, she would thrift everything and not throw it out until it had been worn by all four kids.
This meant school has always been a nightmare for me, kids would relentlessly tease me over my ‘boys’ clothes and my boring lunches.
My one saving grace was my mid-back length blonde hair, mom would always take the time to brush through it, styling it with ribbons she’d pick up at the fabric shop.
Today marked the start of summer break, and although we couldn’t afford to go on vacation, we always made fun with what we had at home, and today like every year, was time for our annual haircuts.
Us four kids, (George, age 15, Julie, age 13, Bonnie (me), age 12, and Henry, age 10) all loaded up into the car so mom could drive us down to the barbershop.
It certainly wasn’t glamorous, but it made do for my yearly trim and no one else seemed to complain as mom would always let us choose our cuts so long as we had more than two inches off.
Mom parked the car outside and we all bundled out and made our way into the shop.
It was a very dated barber, with a tacky fake wood lino floor, three large leather barber chairs all facing big mirrors. The waiting area had a few seats but thankfully the shop was empty for the time being.
”Hello Mary, here for the annual summer cuts?” Jimmy, the barber who owns the place came to the front desk.
”Yes please!” Mom smiled.
”Perfect, who’s first then?” Jimmy asked.
Julie and I get our hair cut by Fiona, the other barberette who must still be in the back, so it was either going to be George or Henry going first.
”George why don’t you go first, get it out the way?” Mom suggested after a few looks were exchanged between the boys. Haircuts were never their favourite thing.
”Okay fine, I’d like it cut just to my chin please” George requested gesturing with his hand as he flicked his shoulder length hair forward.
”Oh no, not this time George, we’re going to go nice and short today, could you give him a number two up the sides and leave about an inch on top so he’s still got some length” Mom told Jimmy as George’s jaw dropped.
”No mom, please let me keep it longer!” George begged her.
”No can do, money’s tight, I can’t afford all this long hair” Mom told him before forcing him down into the barber chair.
I was petrified now how short she would insist for me, maybe she might let me keep it to my shoulders?
Jimmy got to work caping George and before we knew it, the clippers were flicked into action and Jimmy began mowing them through George’s mop.
His long brown hair fell in a circle around him, covering the once white cape in brown fluff as his pale white skin was exposed underneath.
”Who’s next?” Fiona broke Julie, Henry and I out of our trance as she came out the back room.
”I guess we’ll go oldest to youngest, so Julie come on let’s get you sat down” Mom told Julie who quietly followed her to the chair the other side of George, who was only left with his long mop of hair on top.
”So what are we thinking today then?” Fiona asked as she caped Julie.
Before Julie had a chance to ask for her usual trim and curtain bangs, Mom put in her request.
”I want it nice and short, taken above her ears with some bangs” Mom told Fiona who nodded along as Mom pressed her hand at the top of Julie’s ear.
”No mom!” Julie protested.
”Julie, I can’t afford all this long hair anymore, plus you’ll thank me later when it’s not all over your neck” Mom brushed Julie off before heading back to the waiting area where Henry and I were watching on in shock.
Fiona gathered Julie’s hair into a ponytail at her nape before grabbing a pair of scissors and hacking the dry hair off, leaving Julie with an uneven a-line bob hanging at her chin.
As Fiona took Julie back to wash her hair, I looked over at George who’s haircut had taken shape as Jimmy was shaping up his edges.
”How’s this Mary?” Jimmy asked as he spun the chair to face the waiting area.
George’s once shoulder length locks had been shorn off close to his head, leaving just an inch on the top.
”Perfect, right Henry your turn” Mom announced as Jimmy flicked the cape off of George, showering the floor in the remains of his hair.
Henry apprehensively made his way over to the chair and mom instructed Jimmy to cut Henry’s hair the same way as George’s.
This was looking less and less hopeful for my long blonde locks as Julie came back out with her hair bundled up in a towel.
Fiona began combing Julie’s hair out then combed a section over Julie’s face.
Snip, Snip, Snip, the scissors went as Fiona cut Julie’s bangs in. They were vastly different to her usual curtain bangs, they must have only been an inch long.
Fiona kept snipping away at Fiona’s hair, making her way around her head, cutting it all to the same length as her bangs. It looked just like a very short bowl cut right now.
”Do you want a number 1 or 2 for the nape and sides?” Fiona called out over to my mom.
”Number 1” mom told her, not even looking up from her magazine.
Fiona clipped a guard onto her clippers before pushing Julie’s head to her chest.
She then began pushing the clippers through Julie’s remaining hair on her nape, leaving it shorter than the boys now.
I watched in horror as she moved on to Julie’s sideburns, the clippers buzzing as hair rained down Julie’s cape.
Just as Henry had finished with his haircut, the bell chimed as more clients walked in.
I looked over to see that it was Polly from my class. The ultimate mean girl. What was she doing in the barbershop though?
Jimmy went and greeted Polly and her mom and told them to come and wait in the waiting area.
By the time I looked back up at Julie, her long hair was long gone and her remaining inches were being blown out into a very voluminous style.
”Gosh, that’s a lovely haircut, is she yours?” Polly’s mom asked my mom as she admired Julie’s new cut.
”Yes, she wasn’t happy, but think about the money I’ll save and it will be far more manageable in the summer” Mom said.
”Exactly, maybe you should get something like that Polly?” she asked Polly.
”No, I just want a trim” Polly told her mom.
”Okay, Bonnie you’re up!” Fiona said as she brought a very miserable looking Julie back to the waiting area.
Mom took me back to Fiona’s chair and I climbed up onto it.
”What are we doing today?” Fiona asked me as Mom flicked open a magazine.
”Please can I just have it cut as a lob?” I quickly requested.
”Mary?” Fiona turned to check with my mom.
”Oh no not a lob, something like this” Mom pointed out a picture of a girl in the magazine with mid-ear length hair, short bangs and a shaved nape with a very heavy weight-line.
”What about a chin-length bob?” I asked, desperately trying to keep as much hair as possible.
”No dear, plus by the end of summer it will grow to a chin length bob anyway” Mom said before heading back to the waiting area where I saw Polly’s mom trying to push Julie’s haircut onto her.
”Who’s next?” Jimmy asked as Fiona threw a cape over me.
Polly and her mom made their way over to the chair next to me and I heard her mom ask, “Just like the other girl in the waiting area please” before making her way back to sit down.
As Fiona gathered my hair into a ponytail at my nape, I glanced over and saw Jimmy doing the same to Polly.
Then suddenly, schnick, schnick, schnick.
I looked up and saw Fiona holding my ponytail and my hair now fell around my chin, like Julie’s did when her hair got hacked off.
As Fiona walked me over to the wash basins, I saw Jimmy also hacking off Polly’s long brown ponytail.
I sat back and tried to relax for the hair wash but I couldn’t help but dread how awful my hair was going to look.
Once Fiona had washed my hair, I followed her back to the big leather chair and climbed back up to see Polly’s hair taking shape, Jimmy hadn’t bothered washing it, he was just diving in with the scissors, chopping it all to an even length of two inches.
”Head down” Fiona told me as she slid her comb down the back of my head, stopping before my hairline.
I felt her opening and closing the scissors against my hair as she made her way through the back sections.
She then moved on to my left side, pushing my head over to my right shoulder, she dragged her comb through my hair, stopping just above my ear lobe, she chopped my hair straight off. Once she’d done the same on the other side, I was left with an awfully short bob.
As she spun the chair around to face away from the mirror, I caught a glimpse of Jimmy mowing his way through Polly’s now half-exposed nape.
Fiona took a v-shape section from the top of my head and slid the comb down to only an inch in length before snipping the hair off.
She then spun me back to face the mirror, the bangs looked awful, they were so short I would never be able to hide them.
”Head down again” Fiona told me as she flicked the clippers on. I did as I was told and put my chin to my chest as I felt the cool blades hit my nape as Fiona pushed them up to where my hair now fell.
I kept my head down as she pumped some white foam out a dispenser before rubbing it over my now exposed nape.
She then took a razor before dragging it over my short stubble.
Once she’d finished scraping the rest of my blonde stubble off my nape, she quickly dried the rest of my hair.
As the turned the chair to take my cape off, I saw Polly’s mom paying and Polly stood next to her, crying as she ran her hands over her fuzzy nape.
I walked back through to the waiting area, where my three siblings sat, freshly shorn, all looking rather shell-shocked by what our mother had just inflicted on us.
Mom paid for our cuts before ushering us all back out to the car where we silently bundled in and didn’t make a peep all the way home.
I mustn’t admit it to mom, but that summer was much more bearable with no hair on my neck, although I will be wasting no time in growing my hair back to its old length, whether Mom lets me grow it back is another story, as the day before school started back up, Mom yelled out, “Kids, back to school haircuts time!”
