I’ve never known what to tell whoever cuts my hair. It’s one of the reasons I don’t like getting it cut and why I hesitate so long to get it cut. I will usually say something like “Cut about 2 inches off”. My job and my training has me dealing with such measurements everyday so these measurements make sense to me. I look in the mirror before I go deciding what measurement to tell them. Sometimes I say something stupid like “I want my hair a lot shorter”. December 23, 2008 I uttered this particular phrase and mere minutes later I learned to regret it.
The lady looked at my hair and pointed to another gentleman who was sporting a buzz cut.
“Like that?” she asked.
I was instantly shaking my head and without elaboration I told her to leave it longer than that as the man’s hair was quite too short for me. Well, she pulled out her electric razor and cut part of my hair.
“How’s that?” She asked.
I reached up and felt the patch she had just done and sheer terror struck my heart. The hair that was left there was only about 3/4 of an inch long. I had never had my hair that short. Ever. I sat there and I reached up to feel the patch of hair on the right side of my head above my temple. To my credit I believe I kept a neutral face.
She asked if that was ok and immediately I wanted to yell “No!” but then common sense prevailed. If I said “No” then what was she going to do? She couldn’t put that patch back and if she left it longer I’d have a shorter patch on the side of my head. So I figured a timid “Sure” worked for the moment. And that’s when I ended up with a really, really short buzz. I wouldn’t take off my hat for nearly two days even around my family. Also my head was so so cold.
Here’s a look at what my hair looked like when I finally took my hat off.
Wolf of Words 