Get Me One by Jerome (recovered)

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Get Me One

By Jerome


John and I were really excited about this assignment. We`d get to go out in the field and get to the bottom of a serious issue our company was having. It meant one of us was going to have to work on the production line. That was going to be John because he had done that kind of work two summers at college. I would be doing the paper work and trying to use what John found out to redesign systems. John would sort of be "under cover" and had to be accepted by the other workers. So, we had worked up a whole "back story" for him. I even started calling him "Buzz" because that was the name he would be using. Before we left the office, Mr. Cramer, our boss, reminded "Buzz" that there were strict grooming rules in the plant and that he would need to get his curly hair cut back to a fairly short style. He looked at me and said "Jerry, a trim wouldn`t go amiss for you either. That plant is in a small conservative community and we don`t want to ruffle any feathers."

We were going to be flying out on Saturday afternoon so we would have time to get settled in on Sunday before starting the assignment on Monday. We agreed we`d meet at a barber shop near John/Buzz`s house in the morning. John wasn`t real keen on getting a short haircut. He liked his curls, but he was a company man and would do his duty. We got to the shop and the lone barber welcomed us in. John got into the chair and explained that he needed something short and easy to manage, but would prefer it not to be too extreme. The barber combed through the curls and explained that because of the curliness of his hair, the sides and back would have to be pretty short, but he could leave him a bit of fullness on top. John sighed and said, ok, you are the expert. In about 15 minutes, my buddy looked completely different. His sideburns were short and his hair was pretty tight on the sides, but the barber had managed to cut the top and comb it back and it looked pretty good. John thanked the barber and paid him.

I got into the chair and the barber caped me up. John got up from the waiting chair and said he was going to head over to the coffee shop nearby for a cup of coffee. As he opened the door, I said "Get me one, Buzz." John looked over and nodded. The barber said "OK." I figured he meant he was ready to start and I was expecting him to ask me how I wanted my hair cut. Instead, the next thing I knew, the barber had run a pair of clippers up the back of my head and over the top. I shouted "hey, what the heck are you doing?" He replied, "I`m giving you a number one buzz cut like you just asked me for." I said, "what, I just was in for a trim..." Then it struck me, he thought my request to John were directions to him! "Oh man, can you salvage anything?" The barber said, "well, I could give you a bit of a bumper up front, but that would kind of make you look like you had a little kid`s crewcut." So, I just told him to go ahead. By the time John came back, I was nearly bald. I thought he would drop the coffee, when he opened the door.

"What happened to you?" I explained and John laughed. "Dude," he said, "that`s a big change from you surfer boy locks, but it doesn`t look half bad. You know you`re going to have to keep it pretty short now, anyway?" "What do you mean," I asked. "John explained that the boss had told him that the folks down at the plant and in the town would be suspicious if we appeared to concerned about our appearance and that we would need not to do anything to draw attention. So, while I could probably get away with a crewcut, for the next six months, we would be regulars at the barbers. Actually, it just took me a couple of days to adjust to this new look. And, after he`d been working in the plant for a few weeks, John ended up with a buzz cut too. One of the other guys on his line cut the hair of the other guys and John wanted to fit in. The guy told John, "since your name is buzz, I`m gonna fix you up with a good buzz cut." So now he`s got the buzz and I`ve got the crewcut. And we both think we`ll get a big promotion when we get home. I`m starting to get used to this crew cut, no muss-no fuss. I may keep it.


The End

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