Today on NPR’s Talk of the Nation, the second hour had a discussion about eighty-eight American books that the Library of Congress believes have been influential in who we are. The discussion itself was interesting, even though the librarian, Mark Dimunation, kept using the word, impact, when he meant to say “influence” or “effect.” But that’s not what drove me to the keyboard today. Near the end of the segment, one of the guests said the following:
“It’s like cutting your own hair. You just don’t do that.”
This is an example of synchronicity, I suppose. Today happened to be the day that I had set aside for doing exactly what the guest said I don’t do.
Yes, I cut my own hair. Ordinarily, I wouldn’t waste time on such a trivial matter on this weblog, but hearing that remark brought up a thought about our culture.
Some five years ago, the last time I went into a hair salon, I sat in the chair and allowed some apparent child to run a razor with a guide comb over my head. That cost me $15 plus a tip. It occurred to me that I could do the same thing. After a trip to the local big box store for a $30 razor, guide combs, and scissors kit, I have done what the talking head believes to be the impossible or undesirable.
To be sure, I favor an easy style and don’t care about being stylish. It works for me. Thirty dollars in five years and counting is a price that I can live with. But that’s not the main point.
What matters the most to me is that too many people have an attitude that they cannot do things for themselves. We used to be a country that valued self-sufficiency. Now, we have “experts” who tell us what we can’t do, and no one on the program even reacts. I want control over my own life. When I went to hair salons (barber shops being hard to find), no matter how many times I told the child what I wanted, she wouldn’t comply. Cutting it myself means I get exactly what I want and what I deserve. It’s a test of my ability to do for myself. It’s a reflection of the fact that your opinion about my hair is none of my business.
It’s the American thing to do.
My husband probably doesn’t want me to say he does his own hair so I’ll be anonymous for now. But he does an absolutely fabulous job — so much better than the hairdressers and barbers did before he bought his own barber shears, etc. (Interestingly, he had an ancestor who dabbled in barbering.) His hair is probably the hardest type to cut too, gorgeously wavy, but he knows how to do it. I think he was partially inspired by my dislike of the barbers cutting it unattractively short.
Just as you say, those doing your hair will not (and in some cases cannot due to lack of skills) do what you want. I actually quit trying with hairdressers on the advice of some very kind hairdressers. They loved my hair long and suggested I only get trims, not chop it all off. Well, my husband does trim jobs very nicely too, suggested if that was all I need he can do it. And he does. Between us, we have thousands more in savings than we would otherwise and we aren’t in constant search of the perfect hairdresser and we don’t have to wait for the too-short cuts they too often do to wear off.
I have often been complimented on my very hair. My secret: I quit with the hair driers and always air dry or towel dry it so there are no split ends.
In this era when so many are so poor and unemployed and underemployed they need to consider cutting the costs of hair dressers and barbers IMHO.
I forgot to express my thanks for your post!!! And add my apologies for my typo that looks like a bad grammar error.
As a proud member of the “cut my own hair club” (except when my husband helps), I’d like to agree that we are a very diverse country and many of us perform tasks that others (often more urban folk) would never consider doing for themselves, not because we must, but for the personal satisfaction of the accomplishment. Some people have never changed their own oil, replaced a flat tire, built a fire from found materials, or parked their own car. Hard for me to imagine, but plausible. I am one of those, like you, who prides herself on being able to do many things with only the help of a DIY manual or website (or sheer courage!). But I guess if we were all that way, there would be a lot fewer jobs available, so it works out.
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