The Same by Storyteller

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When I was a child, my father used to take me to the barbershop, and I paid no attention to the conversation he had with the barber when deciding on my haircut. As I grew up in the 70s, when I was 8 years old, my parents allowed me to let my hair grow, as was the fashion for the boys of that time, as long as I kept my hair clean, combed and went to the barber with reasonable frequency, which was, for me, when they insisted it was time for me to get a haircut.
My hair was straight, brown, silky, I had a lot of hair, and at that time, the length reached up to my shoulders, fully covered my big ears and the bangs reached my mouth if I didn't comb it to the side.
When I was 12, I took advantage of a winter period to spend a good time between one haircut and another, until my mother said "it's time for you to go to the barber, son". Although I always wanted to grow my hair longer, I was an obedient and respectful boy, and I immediately asked my mother for money and went to the barbershop. When I arrived, I saw the barbershop closed, I was a little doubtful, but I decided to try another one, only I didn't know any.
I walked the streets for a while until I found a barbershop open, looking from the outside it looked like the barbershop I used to go to, so I opened the door and went inside. "Excuse me, Sir," I said as I entered. I noticed the barber welcoming a client in the barber chair and went to a waiting chair. I kept thinking about how I was going to ask the barber for my cut, because I never knew haircuts names, my barber used to only cut my hair a little bit, cause he knew I wanted my hair to grow.
I noticed that the client in the chair had very short hair and when the barber said what he wanted he said "the same", and the barber used clippers, which I had never seen before, and I noticed that his hair was practically the same after the cut. The cut was really fast, the customer paid, left and the barber called "Next" and I promptly went to the chair. I said "Excuse me, Sir" and sat down. I tried to show as much education as possible, since he was a barber I didn't know. He smiled, while I got settled in the chair, took a very long cape and put it around me, taking care that my long hair didn’t get inside.
The barber asked "How do we do it?", I was a little thoughtful, then I remembered that the previous client had said "the same" and the cut ended up practically the same as it was before and said "the same, Sir". He smiled and said "Great" and I smiled relieved that I didn't have to explain anything.
The barber turned the chair, leaving me with my back to the mirror, as was the previous client, he went behind the chair to take his equipment and came back, holding my head very tight. He had clippers in his hands, with blade # 1. He turned on the clippers and firmly started to run them on top of my head. I was startled, speechless and started to see my hair fall out. For a few seconds, I was left without a reaction, dumb.
The barber then started talking, he said "interesting that you want the same cut of the officer that was here before and what a coincidence that you came right after him to ask for the same cut". I realized what had happened. The barber continued, "I never saw you here at the barbershop before, you live in the neighborhood", I was still a little nervous, and said "Yes Sir, I live three blocks ahead".
The barber smiled and said "and what brought you here today?" while running the clippers all over the top. I said "the barbershop where I usually go was closed". He smiled and said "and what a nice coincidence, just when you wanted to change to the military haircut there was an officer getting it before your turn" I was a little embarrassed and said "yes, Sir, what a coincidence, just when I wanted to switch to the military haircut" and I didn't even believe what I was saying.
The barber then switched off the clippers a bit and changed blade # 1 to # 00000, the same one he had used on the sides of the officer’s cut, which I, until then, had no idea that existed, I didn’t know anything about clippers and their blades. The barber held my head tight and started to run the clippers from nape to crown. Huge strands of my hair were falling.
The barber smiled and said, "What a difference, huh, from hairy to military haircut" and I said, "Yes, Sir, but that's what I wanted" a little awkwardly.
He smiled and, while running the clippers on the back, said "Yeah, now you're going to be like a little recruit" and then asked "What made you change? Do you want to pursue a career, maybe go to military school? "
I didn't know how to answer, because, in fact, I had no intention of receiving a haircut like that, so as I didn't know what to say, I said "Yes, Sir, that's it". The barber then smiled and said, "Oh, so, later, I'm going to give you some prospects, I have several clients who work at the military school." I smiled and said, "Thank you, Sir."
He went on with the cut, straightened my head to one side and the other, when he started running the clippers on each side, from sideburns to crown. It didn't take long and the cut was ready. He swiveled his chair around and showed me in the mirror "Okay, the same cut as the officer." I smiled and said, "Thank you, Sir."

He then used a small brush to dust my head and neck and carefully took off the cape and said "you can leave the chair now". I got down from the chair, paid the barber and said once again, "Thank you, Sir" while he was takings military school prospects to give me. I thanked him for that and said goodbye.
In the street I would look at all the windows to try to see the reflection of my haircut and I would never stop rubbing my head ...

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