When I need to go to the salon, my Kenyan husband complains about how much I spend and volunteers to do my hair.
Clearly, a guy who travels all the way to Eastlands to spend Sh100 on a barber for a shave would not understand why I would spend Sh6,000 on my hair.
One day, I relented and let him do my hair. That day, I got an interesting lesson in barbershop etiquette. The first lesson started right away.
Since he was cutting my hair with scissors designed to cut paper, he would pull my hair every so often and I let him know it hurt.
He reminded me that the first barber shop code was, ‘Do not yell at the barber. If he hurts you, just move your head and he will get the point.’
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I had yelled so much in the course of the session that I had no choice but to follow these instructions. Next lesson came when he wanted me to hold my head up.
He shared that when the barber is busy on your hair, you are advised to close your face: ‘Don’t look directly into his eyes. It’s too weird. Just look like you are sleeping or else he will think you are his parole officer checking on him!”
I was trying to grow out my hair, a concept lost on my husband as he kept snipping away at the protected-zone of my head. I kept yelling, “Don’t cut the top.”
My next lessons followed shortly: ‘Just tell the barber once how you want your hair done in the beginning. If you keep annoying him with directives, he may just ask you to leave. If you want to stay in the barber’s good graces, make sure to laugh at his jokes.
However, do not talk unless you have sat in his chair many times because that is the privilege of a regular. Never cough or answer the phone without warning him, the results may be reflected on your head! Never ask for a mirror before he has finished cutting your hair.
He will likely tell you the cut is free and ban you from his shop forever! In the event that you are disappointed with the cut, don’t say anything, just don’t come back,” he instructed.
At the end of our session, I had learned a lot and wondered if these barber codes were universal or strictly Kenyan.
- expat-talk@outlook.com
