Shorter Every Time: Weekly Update 1 by Matt Cegelka

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I could not wait until Monday for my weekly cut. It was Saturday morning and I found myself doing a `drive by` to My Favorite barber shop..just to see what was happening. I did not park, insisting to myself that a weekly cut is enough..especially since the barber(s) are already going shorter every time. Increasing the cut frequency to every five days would only send a wrong signal to my favorite barber shop..namely that I want it cut even shorter.

So I drove away..and anticpated what would happen on Monday morning. The scenario was already set. I would arrive at opening time (9:00am), with my Ipod and earphones on...and non chalently say `One More Week` in my broken Portuguese. Two of the three barbers in the shop recognize me..and know me for my weekly visits..although they have cut my hair progressively shorter on each of the past 4 visits. My thought is that by clearly stating `One more week`, the message about how much to take off will be that much more clear..since barbers must know that hair only grows about 1/8 inch per week.

It was a good plan..but waiting til Monday morning proved more than I could bear. By Saturday afternoon at 3pm...I was `tense` for the cut.and so I meandered back over to the shop for my visit. The shop was empty, as it had just reopened after the customary two hour lunch closing (from 1-3pm)..but only two of the shop`s three barbers were on duty. The third chair, manned by my barber of late (as in the past three cuts) was absent. So my choices were to leave, be attended by the third (and as yet untried barber) or again revisit the barber who started it all off with my first visit to the shop 5 weeks ago..and who went much shorter than I anticipated.

I choose to revisit the chair of the original barber, as I liked what he started. I sat down with my week old extreme `meduim high and tight` and requested he cut a `little` so I can have `One More Week`. He nodded, so I put on my ear phones, and turned the IPOD on to Rigaletto, (a favorite opera), and drifted off to a relaxing cat nap. The barber began with a 1/8 attachment (I eyed him placing it before closing my eyes), and I felt his clippers travelling around my hat band...instinctely, I knew he was traveling north..higher then the previous blend line...but by now,,, I am sure that both of these barbers knew how much I appreciate this weekly teasing and need little encouragement to go a bit shorter each time.

Soon, the barber removed the guide and I felt the cold, damp metal clippers plying their way up the back and sides of my head....the barber repeated each swath three times, and than switched the gear leveller to low, because by the fourth swipe, I was again hearing the `grind down` sound of additional hairs being clipped by the metal guides. For the first time since I started visiting this shop, I also felt cold air against my head..and knew this meant I must be getting scalped on the lower third of my head. My anticpiation raged but I kept my eyes shut.

I drifted back off..knowing that I could not control the situation...and awoke only when the barber started attacking the top crop of my head. I thanked him, but indicated `no more` as I am keeping the top long for effect..as it hardens the demarcation line between the short tapered sides and back and the top.

The barber agreed..and finished me off by shaving a generous outline arch well above my ears..and then tended to some final taper work against the hat band...Afterwards, he showed me the cut in the mirror...he had exposed at least three fingers of shaved to the skin sides and a shaved back above the imaginary line across the tops of my ears....It was terrific..much more extreme than before..and I praised him lavishly before exiting the shop.

Of course I will return next week. From here on out....I`ll track the measurements of length of cut with my fingers to indicate ammount of exposed scalp..as we are already at ground zero on cut length. The big question now is how high up will the next cut be. We`ll find out next week.

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