The Haircut Story Site

Like Mike by Charlie G

I remember it well, it was a Saturday morning in February 1984, and this one event that took place at Tom`s Barber Shop would change my life as I knew it. I couldn`t remember at the time how long it had been since my last haircut, I was currently 13 years old and in the eighth grade at that time, I kept my grades at A`s and went out for baseball every year. I think I hadn`t had a haircut since before the beginning of that school year, my parents were not too big on enforcing haircut rules for either my brother (who was a junior in high school) or for me, they just figured if either my brother or I wanted one we`d just go to the barber ourselves and get our haircuts however we wanted. At this time though, it was that I NEEDED one really more than wanting one. I had looked in the mirror of the boy`s bathroom at school and saw how long and scraggily my hair had gotten in the past 6 months, I was beginning to look like a member of a heavy metal band, which quite a fw of the kids in my school already looked like. It was getting in my eyes and beginning to cover my ears, I had noticed it earlier when I kept having to brush the hair out of my eyes during study hall while I was reading a text book, I new that this coming weekend I had to do something about it because it was becoming an annoyance, and with all the time I put into studying, I didn`t bother with haircuts, but now I had to make the time.

On that Friday night I asked my parents if one of them could take me to a barber`s so that I could get my haircut, they seemed shocked that I asked such a request but my mom said that she had errands to run the next day so she could drop me off at the nearest barbershop on the way, which was Tom`s. I figured that Tom the Barber would be as good as anywhere else in town to get it cut and it was the nearest barber`s to our house, so it would be more convienent to go there than to the other barbers hat were clear across town. But my smartas brother who was in the room was making a motion resembling clippers being used while making the sound of `Bzzzzzzzzt!`, I was wondering what the hell that meant, but from what he told me later was that not a lot of guys in school went to Tom`s for a haircut because he is a `butcher` and about the only clientele he got was Armed Force personell and older gents who kept the same haircut since the 50`s and nobody younger than 50 went around with a buzzed head in the 80`s..I told him to knock it off, I was just gonna get a regular haircut, and that was it, but little did I know what to expect of myself as I got up the next morning. My mom had gotten me out of bed and told me to get ready if I ws going with her, so I got out of bed, got dressed and went and had a quick breakfast. About a half hour later I put on my coat and a ski hat, because it was cold and snowing that day, and then my mom and I were off, the first stop would be for me at Tom`s. As we were driving along, I kept brushing my hair that was protruding from the bottom of my hat away from my eyes, and away from my ears, I would definitely make sure that I would have it so that was not happening any more, and in a few short minutes we were in front of Tom`s Barber Shop. My mom had given me a twenty, but she didn`t tell me how to get it cut nor how short she wanted it. All she said was that she`d be back to pick me up around an hour, and that should be enough time for me to get it done, I figured she knew that I could handle such important things as a haircut, I was figuring on getting a regular preppy style to begin with. So out of the car and into the shop I went....

Inside it looked like an old time babershop, wood paneling, some photos, a couple of racks for magazines and brochures of some sort, and the masculine aromas that are usually associated with a barbershop lingered in the air. Tom himself looked to only be in his late 30`s with brown hair cut in a crew cut with a nice fade around the edges. I went in and sat down to wait my turn as he was finishing up with one man, and there was one ahead of me waiting his turn too. As soon as Tom was done with the first man who then paid and was leaving, the second man got right up from his current seating and wasted no time in getting to the chair. As Tom was prepping this man up to receive his haircut, they had made a bit of small talk, `Well, Mike, haven`t sen you in a while...`

`Yeah, been busy setting up the house and the new offce downtown, just haven`t had time to come in for a haircut...`

`The usual then?`

`Oh yeah, make it real high and tight and shave the sides and back....``...and the landing strip too.`

`OK then, one horseshoe coming up...`

I hadn`t picked up a magazine or anything, I was just sitting there waiting my turn, but I was not expecting to see this, the man in the chair`s hair was looking rather spiky all around, Tom had picked up a set of large black clippers that made a fast whirring sound and went right to work on that man, peeling that hair right from the sides and back of his head and the hair falling right down on the floor, and then Tom took the clippers and ran them down the middle on the top of the man`s head leaving the part on front intact, and there was all that exposed skin all on the sides and that one strip from the back of the top to near the front so that it looked like a fuzzy horseshoe shape on the top of his head. Tom then proceeded with a different set of clippers which were a bit smaller and he kept running those all over where he had just shorn the hair from, and while I watched this haicut in action, I was wondering to myself how those clippers would feel so close to my head, it was slighty turning me on, just even beginning to think about those clippers cutting my hair tha close was beginning to give me a bit of a hard on, but I just kept my eyes upon the man and watched as he kept getting his hair sheared away. Tom was now beginning to work on the top, he took a pink waxy stick and went around the front of the top where hair was still there, he took a rigid brush and worked it as to make all the remaining hair stand up, Tom then took his clippers and then proceeded to work from behind and cut the hair down really short but still having the hair stand up and making it look level and flat right on top. I was enjoying watching this, it was making me think how I would look with a haircut like this, but then I was trying to keep myself from doing so, I only wanted to get a regular haircut, but as I watched, I just wondered how the clippers would feel, and how I would feel looking so well groomed and masculine in a haircut like that but soon it would be my turn, was I going to do it? I just wanted to have the experience that this man probably had many times before at least once, and I kept debating in my head about going all the way as I watched Tom finish up on top and blending the sides of the horseshoe, but there was still more to do. Tom put down his clippers and then wiped off all the loose hair from the man`s head, he then got some warm water and moistened the sides and the landing strip and then headed over to the lather machine where he got the shaving cream and put it all over the skinned sides and up on the landing strip, I had never seen anything like that before, it was really getting my interest now watching as Tom shaved away the lather from the man`s head, and then doing it for a second time in the oppisite direction to make sure he got all the stubble. As Tom was finishing up with the man, I knew that I would be next, and after watching this guy get shorn, I was really considering getting the exact same cut, I could feel my heart palpatating up into my throat, my mouth getting dry, and I was really feeling the hard-on going on in my pants and started to say to myself over and over `I`m gonna do it...`. Finishing up, Tom rubbed some lotion and then dusted off the man`s head and the nape of his neck, he turned the man around in the barber chair to have a look, he looked real pleased with his haircut as a big smile overtook his face, the top was really short, but perfectly level and flat, the sides of the horseshoe were perfectly blended with the bald sides and the strip on top blended right into the back. As the cape was being removed and the customer was rising out of the chair, he kept rubbing the back of his head as if it were smooth as glass, I wondered if I could have the back of my head feel like that. As the man was paying the barber I was getting my coat and hat off and nervously awaiting for my turn in the chair, I was anxious because I knew right there I was going to get the same exact haircut. `OK young fella, hop in!` Tom said, I knew that it was going to be a big change, my feet almost felt like tar as I moved towards the chair like a condemned man on Death Row. I could still feel my heart beating fast and hard, I had to do this before I changed my mind, and then I finally made it to the chair, as Tom was prepping me up for my haircut, the man was telling Tom that he`d bring in more brochures for him on Monday as he saw the rack of them was nearly empty. Tom then focused his attention on me `What`s it gonna be for you today?` he asked me, I wanted to say `just like the last guy` but I was trying to get the words out of my mouth, it had gotten so dry from being nervous for thinking about getting the haircut, I couldn`t say it, `do you just want a regular haircut today?` he asked, but then the man stepped in and said, `I think by seeing how he was watching me get my haircut, I would think he`d want it cut exactly like mine.`

`Is that how you want it? Exactly like Mike`s?`, and then out of my mouth, came the word `Yes,` i said it, `just like his...`

Tom asked another question, `You want the sides, back and landing strip shaved like his too?` I was a bit hesitant, but Mike bowed his head down and told me to go ahead and fell the back of his head, I did so, and it was not like anythingI touched before, it was as though any evidence of any growth had been deleted, and after I felt his head I turned to Tom and said `Go for it!`, oh boy, I was going to really get the shortest haircut I`ve ever had now, `OK then, another horseshoe flattop comin` right up!`, and then I saw Mike take a seat just so he could watch my amazing tranformation from a metalhead into a Marine. And Tom wasted no time at all shearing away my thick hair, it was so great to see all of that stuff that used to be on my head now just fall right onto the floor, he finished with the first clipping and then ran over the shorn spots with the smaller clipper to cut the remaining stubble down even closer, I don`t think I could have any words to describe how wonderful those clippers felt running and vibrating along the sides of my head, Mike was watching smiling and shaking his head in approval of me getting the same style as his. Tom worked up on top, and the hair kept coming off, it was just fascinating to see it fall down on the cape, and blended the sides of what was to be my horseshoe with my nearly bald sides and then I was ready for my first shaving, and boy, what a rush it was, I was already beginning to feel lightheaded from the abscence of that nest I once had on my head, and I was getting quite the hard-on as he was doing it, and by the time Tom was doing the second shaving I thought my dick was gonna explode when he did the landing strip, and as soon as he was done, it seemed such a shame that it went by so quickly, I was ready to see the new me, Tom turned the chair around to face the mirror and I was in shock, was that really me? The top was perfectly flat and level, like mike`s was, and the skin that was exposed on the sides was pink from being freshly shaven as was the landing strip and the back, `So what do you think? You like it?` Mike asked me, I was in awe, this was a perfect haircut, `It`s excellent!` I said. I waited until Tom rubbed a masculine scented lotion on my shaven parts and dusted me off with a bit of talcum powder before I had the chance to touch the back of my head and feel how smooth it had become, and just as I hoped, it was just like how mike`s had felt, as smooth as glass. All that remained was a tight and very short horseshoe-shaped ring of hair that belended with the rest of my head, I was elated to feel lighter and look really clean-cut and more masculine, just like a Marine...`You know its always great to see a young guy like you get a super haircut like that, I just don`t see young men like you get those really well clippered haircuts anymore, now thay all wanna look like Ozzy...` Mike said as he was rewarding me with a pat on theback of my head, `you know, you should come see me in a couple years before you graduate, what you did took courage, getting all your hair shorn off like that, and if you got more of that, you should join up in the Corps...` It turned out that Mike was the Marine Corps recruiter for this area, that would explain the haircut, I told him `I`ll think about it`, `Good boy, you do that`

I went an paid Tom and gave him a handsome tip, he gave me a tube which had that waxy pink stuff inside called butch wax, and told me to use this to keep training my freshly cut flattop to stay up and said fro this being my first flattop that there was no charge. I thanked him for everything, and thanked Mike for his encouragement, put on my hat and coat and went outside to wait for my mother to pick me up.

Now the aftermath. When my mom first saw me, I took off my hat and she went right into shock right there, `OH MY GOD! What did he make you get?` I told her it was my idea, but I think she wasn`t too pleased with my flattop. My dad saw it and laughed it off,saying that he`s had one when he was a young man in the 50`s (though not that short) so it was nothing to him. My brother, younger sister and the guys at school, well they made fun of course telling me I looked like a dork for having such a stupid haircut, but the payback was great though, all the girls in my class just wanted to rub the sides of my head because they thought it was so cool and unusual and felt so neat, I was lovin` every minute of their attention. I did let it grow out for a bit until baseball started up, and by late April I was ready to go get a fresh flattop, of course I didn`t go as extreme as I had the first time around, but throughout the school year kept it in a very short flattop, but when summertime came, oh boy, I went to Tom every week to get that horseshoe, it kept me cool though the hot summer months. And for baseball, this haircut was perfect, because of the hats we wore, having a flattop meant that I was the only member of the team that didn`t have hathair, so I had that advantage. As for Mike? Well, I kept running into from time to time, and through my high school years he told me about his time in the Corps, by the time I was a junior, I had made up my mind to enlist. Once I graduated I went right off to Parris Island to boot camp, made PFC when I graduated there, and moved up through the ranks over my enlistments and traveled to Okinawa, Europe, and even Kuwait. These days I am currently the Marine Corps recruiter for the area, Mike has ritired from the Corps, but we still get together now and then and have a few beers, and I go to Tom every week for a refreshening of my horseshoe flattop, just like I had when I was thirteen, and kept it like that ever since I was a Marine. Mike too keeps his horseshoe, but I have to say, if it wasn`t for him, I think I would have had quite the boring life.

Comments
I really enjoyed this story - I remember going in and doing the same thing at the barbershop. "Same as the last guy". Ended up with a 3/4" burr. Quite short for the 70’s. Probably would have gone shorter - love horseshoe flats.
by JJ on 30 Mar 2024
I really like this story. I love flattops .
by Anon on 23 Nov 2022
I had wanted a flat top for years Finally after retiring, I decided I was done with long hair and got my flat top. I regret not getting this haircut sooner as it looks great and is so easy to maintain. Every two weeks or so, I am back in the chair getting it tightened up. Funny thing is that it keeps getting shorter and shorter. My barber girl says I should go with a bald fade!!??
by Ron on 28 Jan 2021
flattops haircuts and horshoe shoes....had flats a a kid and then about age 30 I got it a flat and have been a convert ever since. Nothing feels better than a fresh short haircut every 10 to 14 days.
by DavePDX on 17 Oct 2020
Not a forced flattop for a change ! Great ! Story well told but a little bit air between the lines, i.e. creating more paragraphes would make it more readable !
I enjoyed it anyway !
by thadeusz on 15 Jul 2019
Great story. I have worn shoulder length hair and I too couldn't stop staring at the guy in the barber's chair before me getting a high and tight flat top. I have never had the courage to say: "same as the last guy, please ". But now would have loved too. I think I needed a coercive barber or another customer.
by Anon on 14 Nov 2018
Great story and one that I can relate too. Growing up my neighbor Larry had a flattop which as a 11-12 year old boy represented a masculine look that I wanted to emulate. I asked my Dad if I could get a flattop and did off and on growing up. Felt the pressure to conform to the business haircut in my 20's and 30s. By the time I got to my 40s I felt I owed it to myself to go back to wearing a flattop. This was 17 years ago and have worn a flattop for the last 17 years. It feels great and sets you apart.
by Anon on 14 Oct 2015
Enjoyed your flattop story. I have been getting flattops for about 15 years and nothing feels better than the clippers scarping the hair off the side high and tight. Great story and glad you enjoy getting clipped as much as I do. Keep it flat!

by Anon on 12 Jun 2015
I've had a Flattop for over 15 years now and it's been getting shorter and flater but not a landing strip or a horseshoe yet I been wanting to try it but my barber girl won't take that chance I keep telling her to go for it! That it will grow back in a week! But she just laughs and says no! I am her only flattop that she will do she free hands it and sweets while doing it I tell her don't get nervous that it grows back! She says she's not nervous that she thinks it's a great looking cut and it makes her feel warm inside! LOL!
by Howie on 23 Nov 2014
I've had a Flattop for over 15 years now and it's been getting shorter and flater but not a landing strip or a horseshoe yet I been wanting to try it but my barber girl won't take that chance I keep telling her to go for it! That it will grow back in a week! But she just laughs and says no! I am her only flattop that she will do she free hands it and sweets while doing it I tell her don't get nervous that it grows back! She says she's not nervous that she thinks it's a great looking cut and it makes her feel warm inside! LOL!
by Howie on 23 Nov 2014
I remember going to the barber shop for a haircut and not knowing what kind of haircut I was going to get as I sat in the chair the barber put the cape on me and took a brush and started to brush my hair upward , my back and sides were going straight up just like my hair on top then he started cutting my Hair on top with the Scizzers I was thinking I was getting a regular haircut and then he took the electric clippers and started running them straight up the sides and straight up the back as I felt those clippers I knew I was not getting a regular haircut as he took a comb and laid it flat on top of my head I realized what kind of haircut I was getting just as he was getting done he took the vacuum hose and was running it over the top of my head when he was done he took the cape off me and turn the chair around and I looked into the mirror and as my eyes were wide open I walked out with a flattop haircut
by Jim on 21 Nov 2013
I remember making fun of the boy in school for getting a flattop haircut and when my parents found out they took me to the barbershop and I got a flattop haircut
by Jimmy on 18 Nov 2013
I remember going in the barbershop with a head full of hair and walking out with a flattop and the having to go to school and deal with
by Anon on 18 Nov 2013
I got them when I was a kid and then getting one when I was 30 years old never went back to long hair again
by Jim on 15 Nov 2013
I had them when i was a kid and then I got one when I was 30 years old and never went back to long hair again

by Anon on 15 Nov 2013
Thanks for sharing such a good thought, article is nice, thats why i have read it entirely
by Anon on 19 Oct 2013
My barber once gave me a VERY short flat with a Very Wide strip, but he didn't call that a horseshoe. I thought it looked great then and still do,now. Now I'm retired, thinning on top and wondering if the hair for the shoe is the top of the sides or the sides of the top, and if I could pull it off. Anyone know? I'm a salesman for several different pomade brands and have to know several barbers quite well. My favorite guy gave me what he called a shoe, but my entire head was shaved with the exception of the front 1/3 of the top. It looked VERY bad on me. Maybe a regular short flat would be good, with shaved back and sides to make the top look thicker. Anyone out there have any advice? Thanks.

by Anon on 21 Sep 2012
me too. that's where i got the idea to get mine like the Marine that was in the chair before me.
by skitch on 21 Aug 2012
I remember watching a lot of radical haircuts trying to get up the nerve before I finally got it done. Nice job.
by Big Shaver on 21 Jun 2012