My Big Chop by Dave

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This is the actual story of my hair over the years.

It was the summer after 5th grade, and My mom took me in for a haircut.

Usually, I wore a bowl cut just to my ears and eyebrows, with a #3 buzz underneath. This time, I sat in the chair and watched as the woman buzzed the undercut higher than ever, leaving only a 3 inch wide patch of longer hair on the top of my head. She switched to the edging clippers and went back over the whole area, making the bowl cut almost cleanly bald underneath. Then, she went to work with the scissors, shrinking the bowl down. In the end, there was a clear inch above my brows and ears before any hair started.

I didn't mind the shorter cut for the hot summer, but it was my last "short" cut for a long time. I decided I wanted long hair. My parents were okay with it, as long as I kept it clean.

Over the next year, with a couple trims to clean up the back, my hair grew to a shaggy cut mostly below my chin. My the following year, it was all cut to one length just below my shoulders. At the start of my Freshman year in high school, my light brown hair, lightened to a dirty blonde by the sun, reached nearly to the bottom of my chest.

I kept it around that length for nearly two years. I either wore it tucked behind my ears with a middle part, or in a pony tail for sports. I often wondered if I'd keep it long forever.

Then, the week after sophomore year ended, my braces were removed. I left the orthodontist with a new smile and feeling free, but I also felt like I needed to reinvent myself before returning to school Junior year. I'd be gone most of the summer, so no one would see me until I got back for the start of sports practice a few weeks before school.

I walked down the street to a unisex hair salon. It wasn't busy, and I was called back to a chair right away. The woman was in her 20's, with long brown hair. When she asked what I wanted done, I said I wanted to cut it off.

"Off?" She said. "Like him?"

She pointed to a man a couple chairs down, whose hair was being finished up. "Yes, like that." I said. I was nervous, but didn't show it.

A woman in the chair next to me was having her bob trimmed a couple inches to her chin, and remarked at the big change.

After reassuring the stylist that I was ready, she snipped off the foot long pony tail from the base of my nape. My hair fell forward, coming just past my chin.

She asked again if I was sure, and I said yes. At this point, the excitement had grown. She started with the scissors, working her way around, taking the hair down to about an inch all over my head, besides the top which she left a tad longer.

Then, she put a #2 guard on the clippers and got to work on the sides and back, bringing everything to a uniform quarter inch, up over my crown and high up the sides. I sat watching, buzzing inside more than the clippers were.

She set down the clippers, picked up a spray bottle and comb, and got to work wetting and combing my hair. At this point, the man she'd indicated earlier was done with his haircut and walking out. "Like his on top, too?" She asked. I just said "yes."

The woman in the chair next to me was done with her haircut, but decided to stay for the rest of the show.

The stylist replaced the spray bottle with scissors and got to work, taking the top down to just an inch in length at the front, gradually getting shorter as it went back. Then she replaced the scissors with clippers and got to work blending the top with the sides and back.

When she finished, she put a #1 guard on the clippers, and went around the sides and back again, blending it in to the #2 higher up.

I was left with the shortest hair cut I'd had since the buzzcuts I'd had as a little kid. At 6'2, I looked and felt like a man. The high, tight buzz and short crop was no-nonsense. I had truly transformed from long hair and braces to a sharp young man.

Over the next month and a half, my scalp tanned,my hair lightened to a dirty blonde, and the hair cut grew out a bit. Before returning to town for cross country practice, I went in to a barber, and had them take the sides up high and tight with a #1 guard to clean it up, but left the top untouched.

My new appearance drew a lot of attention in good ways, and I kept my hair short from then on.

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