the corner office

I'd taken the youngest to the local barber for a haircut. He was in a chair, I was standing a short distance behind him, for moral support. And to help with staying focused, and to discourage too much squirming and pulling of faces in the mirror. You know.

Soon, a man sits down in the chair next to my son. He's got a booming voice and an Australian accent, and he starts speaking to a symmetrically soft-spoken young barber. They've soon gotten through the requirements-gathering phase of the undertaking and are discussing how much is being take off this time versus last, etc. Dude's obviously a regular.

Now, at this point the discussion usually turns to football, failing which, some other sport. This is a small part of why I don't go to a barber for my own hair. Over the years, at the barber's or elsewhere, I've learned that there's no way to say "I'm sorry, I don't really follow any sports" without the other person perceiving it as me being rude or snobbish or dismissive. I don't mean to be, but it's always a bit awkward. Regardless, I'm spared this by gratefully submitting to my clippers-wielding wife. She knows I don't follow sport and we have plenty of other interesting things to discuss when she's not telling me to sit still and stop squirming. I digress.

This time though, the heroes of our story are not discussing football. I'm not sure what they're talking about at first, but it soon becomes clear that the quiet young barber fellow has just had a hair transplant and it seems to have taken well and he's doing all the right care things and is very happy with it. And loud Aussie is planning to have a hair transplant soon as well, but isn't sure where to go for the procedure, and they're discussing the pros and cons of getting it done in the UK versus in Turkey. Quiet young barber had his done in the UK, Aussie knows one of the other barbers there, who'd had his done in Turkey. Apparently it's quite a lengthy procedure and the conclusion is that either country is fine for the procedure, but the lunches are better in Turkey.

This was a surreal conversation to overhear, and one of those odd things which get you thinking. Maybe the two barbers who'd had hair transplants just did it for vanity's sake, but I'd never considered that hair loss might be a bit career limiting if you're a young barber. And I was surprised to hear Aussie and barber speaking so openly about the treatment in front of a shop full of total strangers. It was just one conversation, and maybe men discuss this all the time, but I'd have assumed that most men who were bothered enough about balding to get it treated surgically would be a bit shy about it. Not these dudes.

Anyway. I'd been contemplating all of this, and our barber was (hurriedly) finishing off my son's hair ("I think my hair is short enough now", he'd declared), when I realised the conversation had moved on.

Loud Aussie: "yeah, I support a Scottish football team. Rangers? But they're going through a bad patch right now..."