Go Ahead Try Them Out On Him! by Jonathan

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I often enjoy going to swap meets and flea markets. You never know what you might see. Even if you buy nothing it's good to get out and walk around. I rarely wind up spending more than 20 bucks on any one thing.

This one particular hot Saturday afternoon I came across a vendor with two tables full of new and old electronic items. There were fans, radios, cell phones, blenders, and much more. The older man who owned the stuff was likely in his early 50's. A teen around 16 was there with him. The two were speaking English and Spanish.

Suddenly I spotted someone else shopping with a friend holding and examining something they had for sale. It was an old set of Andis hair clippers. These were all metal and adjustable. They had the coolest looking red switch I'd ever seen. The looked to be from the 1950's. The clippers were stainless steel and had a large heavy duty black power cord attached. I had to have them! I shave my head a few times a week and collect various types of clippers. I'd never seen anything like these.

"How much are these?" asked the customer in front of me.

"Fifteen," said the Mexican vendor.

"Those things look like a weapon or something," said the man's friend.

I was in suspension. Would he buy them? I wanted those so bad. Fifteen dollars was a still. I bet with a bit of cleaning and oiling they'd work. I stood waiting and watching if this guy was going to buy these great old antique Andis clippers. He looked them over for the longest time. He flicked the switch a couple of times. I noticed these things even had two speeds! I thought about saying I'll give you twenty bucks for those. But I decided it wasn't right. This guy had spotted them first. Why hadn't I just come along a minute earlier and seen them before he had?

Then to my amazement he sets them down and walks off with his friend to head off shopping elsewhere. Oh this was my luck! The guy wasn't buying them. Quickly before anyone else came along I grabbed them. I picked them up and looked them over for myself.

"Fifteen?" I asked the vendor.

"Yes, they work. You can try them out on him," said the vendor.

I laughed and was aware the boy with him had a mop of black hair well over his ears. It was in his eyes and slightly wavy. The kid must of been his grandson or maybe his son. He was likely the age of 15 or 16.

The kid pulled his head away at the thought of me shaving it with these things. He laughed and ran his hands through his thick black mop of hair on his head.

"Plug them in and see, they work," said the vendor.

He handed me the end of an orange industrial strength extension cord. It must had been plugged into an outlet somewhere. I did notice strings of extension cords running all through the swap meet.I would have bought them tested or not. Fifteen dollars was not a big investment if they didn't work.

I grabbed the old style black plug and pushed it into the end of the modern orange extension cord. A weak little clack and on the old things came. I was thrilled, they worked! I flicked the switch and tried both speeds. One did seem slightly faster. I also noticed the blade's little teeth were going back and forth. I was absolutely delighted.

"See if they cut hair. Try them on him," said the vendor.

"Go ahead mister," said the teenager.

He put his black mane over the table close to my arm. I figured they must have been joking. I held the running clippers in my hand as I realized this kid's head was just an inch or so away from them. He didn't move it away! I couldn't cut a piece of his hair. This thing had no guard at all anyway.

"Come on cut a little piece off," said the boy.

"Are you sure?" I asked.

"Yeah go for it," he said.

"Shave it all off!" said his grandfather.

"I'll try a little piece," I said.

Zzzitt I took about an inch long chunk out of one side. It fell on the table with the other items for sale. There it was the black hair on the table. The kid just looked at it, then felt his head to examine the damage.

"Try it again," said the kid.

I thought it was weird but they didn't seem mad. Zzzitt I dug in at the black mop again. This time a much larger piece fell to the table. The grandfather laughed. Now a few other swap meet customers started to notice what was going on. The damage to the side of the kid's head was minimal so far. I could have stopped here and walked away with my new fifteenth dollar vintage Andis clippers.

"Go ahead, shave his head with those things," someone said.

"Do it!" said the grandfather.

I kinda wanted to try these things out. Also it might be fun to shave this kid's head right now.

"Spray some of this on them and come around here," said the vendor.

The vendor had some WD40. I realized that in a pinch it would do instead of regular clipper oil. I went to the other side of the table and the grandfather gave the clipper's blades a quick squirting of WD40.
They're really going to let me shave this kid's head I thought!

To my shock the kid sits down in a chair and leans towards me ready for those old clippers to start in on his hair.

"Are you sure that you want me to do this?" I ask.

"Yeah, go for it," the kid said.

That's it, I'm doing it I thought to myself. I was going to shave him bald right here in the swap meet booth!

I aimed the clippers at the top of his cheek. Then I pushed them upwards towards his right temple. I pushed them into his scalp and off came the black hair. They really did still work!

I ran them again and more black hair fell. I noticed these things had cut right down to the nub, 000 or even 00000 I thought. The kid reached up and felt the bald spot he now had on his head.

"Go ahead mister, do the rest ok," he said.

I continued shaving his head. By now a small crowd was gathering. I was a little self conscious. I never had expected to be doing this at the swap meet this Saturday morning.

"Look, that guy is shaving that kid's head," someone said.

I started in again with the clippers. I consontrated on one side on the kid's head. I shaved until his ear was revealed. I carefully bent it down with my finger. I shaved the entire right side of his head until it was good and bald.

Next I started in on the top. Off the hair fell in large black chunks. The kid was soon to look like a light brown cue ball. Mostly all the hair was gone from the top of his head. I put the palm of my left hand on top of his bare scalp. This way it made it easier to rotate and turn his head.

"Rapada!" someone yelled.

"Good job mister," said the grandfather.

The kid showed little emotion as I continued to shave his head. I wondered if he was planning on shaving it soon anyway.

The left side remained untouched by the clippers. The left ear was still covered with hair. It was a funny looking contrast to the rest of the bald head. In no time I was able to quickly shave off the left side. I ran the clippers around his ear while bending it downwards with my finger. Basically it as done. I took my hand and rubbed the kid's head for spots I'd missed. A few little places needed touching up. Zzzitt a couple more times.

"Is it done?" asked the kid.

"Pretty much, I guess," I said.

"Can I stand up now?" he asked.

"Yeah go ahead," I said.

The boy rubbed his bald head over and over.

"That feels weird!" he exclaimed.

There was a pile of black hair on the ground. The small audience watching the head shaving now walked off.

"See I told you those things work," said the vendor.

"Here's your fifteen bucks, thanks," I said.

"Thanks, see yea," said the kid.

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