Sometimes the barbershop school is not quite full and I have to wait between 10 and 30 minutes for a new customer to arrive. However it’s frequent to find in the waiting area lots of people waiting to get their nails done or simply waiting for their mothers or friends to get their haircuts.

When I have no customers I always go to the waiting room to see if there is a guy I can convince to get a haircut.

Last week, there was a 13 years old boy, playing in the waiting area with his sister. I asked if he was going to get a haircut and he replied that he was only waiting for her mother who was getting her hair done.

A while ago, after I finished with a guy haircut, I went back again and the boy was still playing. I offer him that I would cut his hair for free if he wanted. His hair was about 3 inches long on top and sides and his ears were starting to get cover by his hair. He hesitated, “I’ll have to ask my mum”. OK, I replied, go and ask her.

He went inside and told his mother I had offer him a free haircut. I then went to talk to her mother and she thought it was a good idea. I sat him in my chair and ask the mother what kind of haircut she wanted. She said she wanted a bowl cut.

My customer, whose name was William, replied he wanted a military haircut and his mother told me that the next weekend he was going to have his first communion in the church (this is an important event for the family in our country) and that she doesn’t’ wanted anything like that. She said to him that she will allow him to get the haircut he wanted after the party.

Ok, so I started to work. In order to get a better control of the hair I wetted it on top and lifted it with my comb. I turned on the clippers with the #2 attachment and started to pass them on the left side. Sideburns became more transparent as all the hair over the ears. I kept working on the back, passing the clippers up to the middle of the head.

When I was about to finish the base of the back, the mother came to me and ask me about the haircut of a child who was sitting near by. I told her that it was a flattop. She then asked if I could do that to his son and I warned her that that was a really short style and that there would be a big change on his son look.

She said, let’s do it. I told William that a flattop was kind of a military haircut so at the end he was going to get what he wanted. He seemed pleased.

Since his hair was all wet and I didn’t have a towel or a dryer, I was told by the teacher to cut all around to one inch with the scissors. In that way the hair would dry faster and I could use the clippers better.

I took my scissors and lifted the hair in the left side that was almost going to be the long part of a bowl cut. It was about 3 inches long and with a simple movement, it was reduced to one. With great pleasure I started to chop down his hair around the crown. Long bangs fell over the cape. Now he started to look quite different. I took the hair on top and repeat the operation. I divested his hair all over. There was no turning back. He was looking now like a prisoner since I didn’t take much care while cutting.

Lots of hair over his cape and only short ones over his head. Now the hair was dry enough to use the clippers. I turned them on and putting the comb in a vertical way I started to cut the hair really short on the sides and back. Then with the comb placed horizontally, I cut the top until it was perfectly flat and short.

He ended up with no more than half an inch on top and the upper part of his sides and back. I then decided to taper the back and sides shorter. I took the #1 attachment and passed the clippers over what was left of his sideburns, over the ears and way up over his neck. I then fixed the sideburns, made a neat arch over the ears and shave the remaining hairs on his neck.

I put on some gel and admired what I have done. I now had a TOTALLY different guy from the one who sat in my chair half an hour before. “Well, William, you wanted a military haircut and you got it!”

He looked carefully at his new look and when I asked if he liked it he passed his hands all over, turned his head first to the left and then to the right to see it better and nodded.

I personally took him where his mother was and she almost didn’t recognize him. He had told me he had never had a short haircut before. I’m not sure if she really like it because she was kind of shocked, but I know she will… William look much better now.