Cut number 1 by Storyteller

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When I was 11 years old, in the 70's, almost all the boys my age had long hair, it was practically impossible to see any boy with short hair, or with a military cut, and clipper cuts were very unusual.
I, from the age of 8, could start to let my hair grow, according to what was the fashion of the time, I only had to have a trim from time to time, which I always obeyed.

Around this time, in my country, a fashion for long hair for men was called "Cut number 1", because it was the cut that most young men had.
My hair, by then, had grown a lot, and I needed a trim, the hair was shoulder-length and completely covered my huge ears, so I decided that I was going to order "Cut number 1". But, as the barber I went to, who always did just a light trim, didn't seem to be very up to date, I decided to go somewhere else. However, I didn't know there were salons for men's cuts, so I looked for another barbershop.

Walking around my neighborhood a bit, I found a barbershop I didn't know about and went inside. It was a small barbershop and the barber seemed like a nice guy, so I walked in and said politely, "Good morning, Sir." He smiled and said "Good morning kid" and asked "How can I help you?" I said "I'd like a haircut." And then I asked "Do you know the ‘number 1 cut’?" He smiled and said "Sure, have a seat" pointing to his barber chair.

I smiled and climbed into the chair, sitting down politely and adjusting myself perfectly into the chair. He put a big cape around me and a neckstrip around my neck, closing them tightly and making sure my hair didn't get caught inside. He pressed the pedal and raised the chair to a suitable height and swiveled the chair so that I had my back to the mirror, something I wasn't used to, but as I was very shy and polite I didn't ask anything or make any comment.

He dealt with his equipments on his desk and asked me "Number 1 then?" and I said "Yes, Sir" He immediately turned clippers on and started running them on the top of my head. For the first time I heard that buzz and felt that vibration in my head, and of course I started to see a lot of hair falling out. I was very scared.
Before I had any reaction, the barber started talking "this is a very practical cut with the number 1 clippers, son" smiling, and said "It will look very different from the long cut you had" And went on to clippers.

I realized I had made a mistake, as I didn't know clippers and I didn't know they had numbers, I figured it didn't make any difference to say "Cut number 1" or "Number 1 cut". As at that point I imagined that it would be useless to say anything, as I was very shy and in order not to annoy the barber , I kept quiet and just smiled.
He proceeded with the cut. After having buzzed the top of the head he started the back, for this, he lowered my head forcefully, putting my chin against my chest, I didn't offer any resistance, and he started to run clippers from nape to top. With that, head down, I saw a lot of hair falling into my lap, over the cape. He made several passes like that.

Then he tilted my head and started running the clippers on the right side, my huge ear started to show, I noticed he had a surprised reaction when he saw my ear, but he didn't say anything. When he went to run clippers around the ear, he bent my ear and handled the clippers to buzz all around there. After tilting my head to the other side, he started doing the same movements on the left side.
I kept a smile the entire time to try not to show the mistake that had happened. The barber, at a certain moment, looked at me and said "you really like this cut, huh, son", I, not knowing what to say, just said "Yes, I'm really enjoying it, Sir".

He smiled and said "Look son, the cut with number 1 all over the head is not as elegant as the cut with 0 onthe sides and back, would you like me to cut it like this?" I didn't know what to say, I thought that a lower number like zero would be even worse, but in order not to be rude, I just said "Oh Sir, no need, you will have more work".
He said "Oh, but that's not a problem" "I'll do it, then, so you will like the cut even more" and he was already exchanging clippers number 1 for 0 and going through the left side, which he was already working on, I felt the clippers going through the hair that was already very short and I saw little bits of hair fly in the air as he cut it.

Even though I was terrified of how short my hair was going to be and how long it would take to grow out, I kept smiling and the barber said "How happy you are with the cut son" and I just smiled more.
He moved my head again to buzz the right side and then pushed it down again and buzz the back again, I just saw little bits of hair fall out now. Now these steps were going much faster.
Finally, he lifted my head and swiveled the chair around so I would face the mirror. He held a hand mirror behind the chair to show me all the angles and said "done son, a number 1 cut with sides and back at 0". I smiled and said "Thank you very much Sir".

Looking at the cut in the mirror, I noticed how pale my head was compared to my face and the part of my neck that was tanned.
The barber shook the cape a little, used a duster brush to clear my face and head of little hairs and went twice with the duster brush around my ears, even dealing with my huge ears again. Then, he opened the cape, took off the neckstrip and said "There, son" signaling for me to get out of the chair. I jumped down from my chair and grabbed my wallet to pay for the cut. He said "Thank you so much son, come back often" and I said "Thank you Sir" and walked out of the barbershop.

On the street, I ran my hand over my head and the feeling was very different, and I would look in store windows to see my haircut reflected.

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