A friend claimed he had learnt how to give a great haircut. He spoke really glowingly about his new skill. I was excited for him and immediately subscribed.
One hour into my haircut with him, i was like a father tasting the first meal of his daughter – smiling and swallowing fast, praying this will be over soon.
I realised I had made a big mistake. Unfortunately, lost hair cannot be immediately regained.
I still had to pay for the haircut. Besides, what are friends for, if not for shared memories of pain.
Time for damage control before I go to work. I was too ashamed to go to my trusted barber, because I knew he would give me the full length of his tongue. That guy loves my hair so much. I was too scared to show him the outcome of my infidelity.
So I went to another barber to see how he could salvage the situation. Big mistake. The guy was savage. I came out looking so bad, I started thinking of just shaving my head clean.
Then something told me to swallow my pride like the prodigal son and return to my barber. I was looking so bad, he would have no choice but to have mercy. So I proceeded, face in palm, to my barber.
Immediately I entered his Laboratory (like he calls it), he looked up and screamed, “Wetin happen to you?”. I tried to smile, but my mind couldn’t carry a smile. My barber immediately begged the guy on his chair to sit aside, and let him attend to an obviously troubled friend. The customer surprisingly obliged. It was then I confirmed that this was really bad.
15 minutes and lots of head pushing later, I recovered some normalcy to my hair. I thanked my barber and dashed out before any more chiding.
My new haircut taught me 3 things I already knew, but still failed to apply.
- Do not take a confident beginner’s word for it. Ask for previous work done.
- If you make a mistake, do what you know is right to correct it, even if it is difficult. Any easy choices will only make the mistake worse.
- This too will pass.
– Osasu Oviawe