Once Around

When I was young my Nonno used to take me for haircuts to a local barbershop. It was lit with glaring fluorescent lights and the air was filled with the static of AM radio and the smoke of Cuban cigars. If you were really lucky the door would be propped open for a bit of fresh air and a ball game would be on the radio.

We used to see "Once-Around-Charlie", a barber who was known for standing in one place the entire time he cut your hair, spinning the chair just once and to the right 360 degrees whilst his sheers went at the pace of today's electric hedge trimmers. It was an awful cut but it was cheap and quick and Charlie knew more about baseball and fishing than anyone else in town. And, at the ripe old age of 12, I realized that in the back right corner of the store -- piled well under the back issues of Field & Stream and Sports Illustrated -- existed the golden treasure of a few well-worn Playboy magazines. This, in its time, was part of my right of passage from boy to man and my grandfather surely understood this every time he took me there.

Roll forward forty years and there is not one "old world" barbershop that I know of in the central portion of downtown Minneapolis. There is a part of me that misses Charlie, the spin of his chair and his testosterone rich environment. But, I also see the upside of visiting "The Salon for Men" which is two blocks from my office, has posh lighting and the rich sounds of a well put together audio system beating R&B tunes. The magazines on-hand includes current editions of GQ, Men's Health and Modern Photography. And the all female staff is a bit of an added attraction. The hilarious thing is that Sonya, my "stylist", might know more about baseball than Charlie ever did.

If I had a son or grandson I would happily take him to this new definition of the classic male barbershop.


Sorry to continue to be such a stranger but life has me by the tail for the time being instead of the other way around.