I am a conservative person in every way. My buddies tell me I should loosen up! They all are into the latest men’s fashions. I don’t mean those outlandish colors that the teenagers like to flash about in. They take great pride in their appearance. Everyone is cleaned shaven and have many of the short hairstyles popular today. Me? I still have the hairstyle I have always had since I first entered high school - hair parted in the middle and combed back. If I were to comb my hair down in front, it covers my eyes and reached below the tip of my nose. My hair is a little on the long side. The tops of my ears are covered and the hair reaches just to the collar.

I was walking down the street one morning and my friend Ed stopped me and handed me a coupon. I looked at the coupon and it read, ‘Blake’s Barber Shop. Free haircut with this coupon.’ I asked Ed what this was all about. He told me that his kid brother, Blake had opened an old-fashioned barbershop and this was a way of him being introduced to the community. Ed said, “Give Blake a try. I know you will like going to a real barbershop rather than the salon you have been frequenting.” I didn’t know about this. I hate to give up Sue who had been cutting my hair, but I sure didn’t like sitting down among some women and listen to their conservation and that smell! It is something awful. Then I thought to myself, ‘Why not try Blake? His will be the only barbershop in our little town.’

Just then Ed said, “Come on, you need a trim and besides I have to go back and get some more coupons.” The moment I stepped inside of the barbershop, I knew I was doomed. All around the shop were posters and pictures of men with Bald Heads, Crew Cuts, Buzz Cuts, Induction Cuts, and one cut I had never seen before. I checked the picture out and it said I was looking at a Recon Cut. I thought it looked really strange but at the same time most interesting. Nowhere did I see a picture of what I would call a normal haircut style. When Blake came out from the back, I was introduced to him. Another sign of DOOM was before me. Blake was sporting the RECON CUT! Again I found myself thinking that it looked strange and interesting at the same time. I knew that I would never ask for a cut like that. It takes a special person for that cut and I knew I wasn’t the person.

Ed told Blake I needed a haircut and that I had a coupon for a free cut. Blake offered the chair. He told me that I was his very first customer since he left barber school. I felt honored. He wanted to know if he could take pictures of me for his personal scrapbook because I was his first customer. I told him I didn’t mind as long as the pictures remained just that, in his personal album. Of course it wasn’t long before I found out that Blake was also a comedian. He took front, sides, back, and top views. I could see the picture in his Digital Camera and I had to say they looked like normal pictures.

Then Blake began combing my hair in different styles and took more pictures. Since there weren’t any customers waiting or watching, I didn’t mind. In fact I was enjoying myself. Blake then asked me how I wanted it cut. I told him that I have never had any other style but the one I had coming in, so I didn’t have any idea. I said, “Oh! I guess the same style I have now.” Blake looked dejected. He was so looking forward to changing my style. He said, “Ah! Come on! You need loosen up and try something different.”

Finally I gave in and told him nothing drastic. Blake said, “I want to try different cuts on you. I will take pictures afterwards. Who knows, I may end up with an album of just you.” When he said, that, I thought, ‘That would be neat to have an album full of different cuts on the same person.’ I knew I would enjoy the process. First Blake took my original style and shortened it. When he took the same poses as the BEFORE, he said, “Now to try a different style. This will mean I will be cutting more of hair off, so don’t be alarmed. We will eventually arrive at what will be a suitable style for you.”

I was completely relaxed in one way and really apprehensive in another way. When I saw the first long strands of hair fall on the cape, I knew definitely I was really DOOMED, but I couldn’t help myself. I don’t know how to explain it, but I really liked seeing the hair fall. I was facing the windows so I had no idea what style Blake was giving me. When he finished that style, I was turned around and saw that he had cut the top, sides, and back short but still retained the over-all style I had originally. I don’t know why but I liked it. Blake took the usual poses and said, “You see, you can have a short style and still be pleasing to look at.”

I found myself asking, “Blake. Are you going to stop there?” I was hoping his answer would be NO and sure enough he said, “Oh! NO! I have several other ideas I want to try on you. I hope you have the time.” I told Blake I had lots and lots of time. He smiled and said, “Well then! Let’s continue.” Again I was turned away from the mirror and Blake began cutting again. This time he used clippers. When he finished, I still had the same style that I came in with, but relatively short on the sides and back. I couldn’t believe the top. He had taken scissors and cut it shorter and then put something in it to give it that ‘Spike Look.’ I must say I was enjoying myself. More pictures.

Then Blake washed out the stuff he put in my hair to get it to stand up and dried my hair. The next cut was a long crew cut. With my blonde hair, it looked great. I loved the feel of it as well. More pictures. The next cut was a short buzz cut. Talk about short. It looked great, however. Little did I know, but I had spent almost three hours in the Blake’s chair. I was having the time of my life. Not once did I even think about me losing my hair. Blake said he had one more or maybe two more styles he wanted to try. I told him that I was all for it. The next cut concerned me a little. He took clippers and went high on both sides of my head and up over the crown in the back. By now I was aware of the fan above me moving the air. I thought to myself, ‘feeling the air on my head is something totally new to me. It was great. Blake changed clippers and ran them over the top of my head. I could see hair falling but that didn’t concern me. More pictures.

There was no more clipper work. What Blake did next was interesting but concerned me some. He had put warm lather on the sides and back of my head and shaved all of the hair off in those areas. He took more pictures. When he let me see what he had done, I couldn’t believe how I looked. I was almost bald except for the top. He had given me a RECON! Right away I knew I liked it from the standpoint of the feel, but not the way it looked on me. I told Blake I didn’t think it looked right on me. Blake disagreed with me. He said he could change that if I wanted. I told him to go ahead. I knew I couldn’t face people in the community with that cut.

Blake turned me away from the mirror and took clippers and ran them over the top of my head. Then I felt that warm lather on the top. Right then, I realized what Blake meant when he said he could change the Recon. He was going to shave the rest of my hair off. I couldn’t believe it. For some reason, I cannot explain, I was looking forward to the shave. Blake finished and slowly turned me to the mirror. I couldn’t believe it. There I sat with no hair on my head except for the dark eyebrows. I looked and looked and finally reached up and rubbed my head. The skin had a slight shine to it. As I was looking, Blake put something on my scalp that was warm. He rubbed it over my head and ended up massaging my scalp for several minutes. The warm liquid and his massage felt so good. I could sit there all day and let him continue. After a short time, he took a towel and wiped off the excess liquid and then his hands. Before I knew it, Blake was putting on some kind of slick gel. Talk about shine.

Blake washed his hands and dried them and picked up his Digital Camera for his last set of pictures. After all, he didn’t have any more hair to style on my head. When finished, I rubbed my head and found my hand was dry. I couldn’t believe it. I had spent almost he entire morning in Blake’s Shop and had a ball. As I got up from the chair, it hit me. I was BALD! Me! The guy who had the same haircut since 9th grade, some 10 years ago, was standing there BALD!

I gave Blake a big tip. He didn’t want to take it, but I told him, I had the most fun. I thanked him for releasing me from my rut, even though it may have been a little sneaky on Ed’s part. Blake laughed and said, “I was part of it too, don’t forget. He told me to carefully shave my head on a daily basis for a short time until the skin toughened up from the initial shaving. He also told me to come back in a week and he would shave it again for FREE! I told him I didn’t think I was going to keep the BALD head.

As I was leaving, Ed showed up. His mouth dropped open and said, “I can’t believe this! You look FANTASTIC! Wait until the rest of the guys see this. You are coming over for your weekly card game aren’t you? I must get pictures of the guy’s faces when they see this. I can’t believe it. It is AWESOME!” I told Ed if he liked it so much, he should let his brother fix him right up.

I did go to our weekly card game. I did make it a point to be there early so Ed could get pictures of each of the guy’s reaction upon seeing the new me for the fist time. I had a great evening. The following morning I was so surprised to find that my hair had grown some over night and that it felt like sandpaper. I decided to try my hand at shaving. I had just purchased the new Turbo razor and loved how it felt on my face. Slowly and carefully, I began shaving the head. I was surprised how easy it was after I got over the jitters. I was again smooth as could be. I did notice that the shine wasn’t there that Blake was able to give me.

The more I shaved, the more I liked being Bald. Three days short of my one-week anniversary, I stopped shaving. When Saturday rolled around I said to myself, ‘I hate to admit this, but I miss my smooth head.’ Off to Blake I went. I made sure I would be his first customer. When I walked in, he smiled and said, “Well! I guess you like the BALDY! I told him I did, but couldn’t get the shine he was able to produce. As he shaved my head, he told me the two things he used to get that shine. He also told me something else. Ed was going to go bald. I couldn’t believe what Blake just said. I asked him how he talked Ed into it. Blake laughed. Oh! He doesn’t know it yet. He will be here in about 10 minutes. He said if you came in again and asked to have your head shaved, he would let me shave his head.

Now I wasn’t in any hurry! How could anyone miss such an opportunity? We both saw Ed coming up the walk. Blake asked me to play a surprise on Ed. I went into the back room and waited. Ed came in and sat down in Blake’s chair. Blake put the cape on him and said, “Well! Now! You want a head shave, is that correct?” Ed responded, “No! I said if Dave came back in for a head shave, I would let you shave my head. I know Dave, he can’t wait to grow his hair back out and I am sure he will end up with the same style he had these many years.” Just as Ed had spoken that last sentence, I walked out and said, “Wrong Ed old buddy.” I was smiling and rubbing my head. Ed looked like he was about to panic. I walked over to Ed and put my bald head right in front of him. “How do you like that tan and shine, Ed?”

Blake didn’t give Ed a chance to reply. He fired up the clippers and said, “Well bro, it looks like SHINE TIME!” Ed smiled and said, “Go ahead. Dave looks really super.” As Ed and I walked out of Blake’s Shop, Blake handed me a package. “Here! I thought you would like this.” I looked inside and there was a collection of my first visit to Blake. As we all three looked through the book, we all had a good laugh and some comments. I thanked Blake for his generosity. Just as we had finished, a customer came in. Ed and I left rubbing our heads.

The following week I went in again for Blake to shave my head. There is something that I can’t explain, about having someone else do the shaving. When I arrived, Blake greeted me with a bald head. I said, “What gives?” Blake smiled and said, “I have always wanted to try this and since you and Ed were enjoying it so much, I knew I had to find out what it was all about. You know, I love it.” Blake finished up my shave and once again it was shining again. I am a confirmed head shaver. There is really no other haircut quite like it. Each morning I shave, I find that I am enjoying the feeling all over again. I will never forget the first visit to Blake’s Shop. I can never thank him enough for introducing me to my favorite haircut, the HEAD SHAVE.