Haircut by request of my friend Thadeusz by Storyteller

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This is a special fictional story, my style, with respect for my haircut story friend, Thadeusz.

In the spring of 1982, when I was 16, my very straight brown hair was quite long by my standards. I used to let my hair grow long and occasionally go to the barber for a light trim. My hair was already past my shoulders, it completely covered my huge ears, and the bangs could go past my mouth if I didn't comb them.

One day I was walking in a distant neighborhood, after visiting a colleague to do a project for school, when I saw a gentleman, with very short hair and a military uniform, who asked me if I could give him some information as he had recently changed to my city and couldn't find an address.

I kindly explained to the man that that street had a discontinuity, and it was common for people not to be able to find the other part of the street, I was politely talking to the man and accompanying him so that he could find the address he was looking for. The man was very grateful, said that I was a very polite boy, asked my name and introduced himself, saying that his name was Thadeusz.

I noticed that he looked at me a little and invited me to accompany him to the place he was going. I politely nodded and followed him. Reaching the desired address, I saw that it was a barbershop. He invited me to join him, and I accepted. As he greeted the barber, who seemed to be a great friend of his, someone he apparently already knew before moving here, I observed that it was the kind of very old and traditional barbershop, which, even at that time, was no longer common.

Mr. Thadeusz kindly introduced me to the barber and said that I was a very polite boy who helped him to find the address of the barbershop. Then Mr Thadeusz approached me and said "Friend", pausing and saying, "I hope I can call you friend" and I said, "It is an honor for me Sir". He smiled and said, "Would you, my friend, be willing to let me pay for a haircut for you?" and I, thinking that my hair was already very long, said "Thank you very much, Sir, yes I do".

He looked at the barber, who wasn't having any customers at the time, and said, "A haircut for my friend." The barber smiled and pointed to the barberchair. I smiled, walked over to the chair, and sat down, glad to be given this opportunity. The barber carefully placed the cape around me, taking great care that my long hair did not get caught inside the cape, and placed a neckstrip around my neck and swiveled the chair so that my back was to the mirror.

The barber then looked at me and said, "What are we going to do today, young man?" As I was about to ask for a light trimming of the ends Mr Thadeusz approached and said "Can I choose the cut, my friend?" And I, smiling, said "Of course, Sir". He then told the barber a term I didn't know. The barber went to his desk and I heard him dealing with his equipment.

Until then, I was very calm, without worrying about what the cut with a different name would possibly be. It was then that the barber appeared in front of me with clippers, which I had never seen working before, and had barely noticed a few times in the barbershop I frequented. He turned on the clippers and a noise filled the room. I got a fright. And he, holding my head steady, started passing the clippers on top of my head.

The noise intensified and I felt the metal touching my head making a vibration and a sensation that was, at the same time, cold metal, but warm from the movement and vibration. And I started to see my hair falling out in big clumps.

Mr Thadeusz noticed my astonished reaction and promptly approached the barberchair and started talking to me, as a way of distracting me a little. He told me about his work as a military man, what he was thinking about the city and if I had tips to give him about the city to which I said yes, that I knew many streets and places in the city. It was interesting how he gave a detailed description of everything, especially things related to the military environment.

Meanwhile, the barber, who had already ran clippers all over the top of my head, changed the blade he was using, that had number one on it, to another one with the number zero written on it five times and came back, he then pushed my head down, making my chin touch my chest. At this point Mr Thadeusz stopped talking to me because I couldn't see him. The barber positioned the clippers at the back of my head, under the long hair, at the nape, turned them on, and started moving them from nape to the top, working a little past the crown. Large strands of hair fell in front of me as he repeated the process again next to where he made the first pass and so on.

After he had ran the clippers all over the back he lifted my head and came to the right side. And began to pass the clippers from the sideburns to the top, a little past the crown, as he had done in the back. Mr Thadeusz came back to talk to me. He asked me about school, where I went to school, how I was doing. When I told him my grades, he said he already thought I would be an excellent student and I smiled very proudly. By this point I wasn't even thinking about the haircut anymore.

As he approached my huge ear, the barber gave a very noticeable gasp of astonishment, and used his finger to push my ear away as he passed the clippers around. He moved to the other side and did the same procedure. Meanwhile Mr Thadeusz told me a little more about military life. I commented on how nice his uniform was, he thanked me and proceeded to tell me all the details about military uniforms and when they should be worn. By this time, I had already realized that Mr. Thadeusz was very good at providing detailed descriptions.

The barber turned off the clippers, and I thought the cut was over, but then he turned on a machine and I heard a different sound, and then he walked over with a shaving brush full of foam and started lathering the sides and back of my head, where he'd past the clippers with the five-zero blade.

After that, the barber took a razor and sharpened it on a leather strap next to the barberchair. He then told me "Be very quiet now, son", I, very seriously, made a very slight sign with my head, already ready for the firm position. Mr Thadeusz made an approving face when I did this. The barber began to shave what little hair the clippers had left in that area, using firm but careful strokes with the straight razor.

Mr Thadeusz said to me, meanwhile "The sun hasn't hit your head for a while, huh, friend" I smiled very slightly so as not to disobey what the barber had said. "We need to arrange for you to go for walks in the sun, or better yet, I can teach you how to march, maybe even in a uniform" I was very excited, the barber saw it and stopped shaving a bit and I said "Wow, Sir, I would be very honored". The barber went back to work and took the last few strokes of the razor.

When the work was finished, the barber took a towel to remove excess foam, then took a dusting brush and dusted my entire head, passing several times around my huge ears, now exposed. Then he put some aftershave on the parts he shaved and finished by putting talcum powder on the ends of the duster brush and passed around my ears and on the nape.

The barber finally swiveled his chair around to face the mirror and said "Here you go, son, you're ready to be a cadet" I was completely unrecognizable but I don't know if that was the whole conversation or what but it was like I already knew it would be like this, and I said "Thank you very much for the cut, Mr Barber, Sir" and then I turned around and said "Thank you very much for making me get this cut, Mr Thadeusz, Sir" and he said "My pleasure, young friend".

The barber shook the hair that was on the cape to the floor, opened the cape and said, "you can get off the chair, young man" I said "Thank you, Sir" and then I looked at the floor and said "Where do you have a broom so I can sweep the floor for you?" The two looked at me very surprised, and opened a smile, and the barber said, "back there, son". I promptly got the broom and started sweeping up the hair and then put it in the trash. The barber said, "Thank you, son" and I said "It's an honor, it's just my duty, Sir".

Mr Thadeusz paid the barber, I thanked him again, we said goodbye to the barber, and Mr Thadeusz said "My friend, do you still have time? I would love to show you where I work." I say "Yes, Sir, with the greatest pleasure, Sir". I helped him find the way to the barracks and we got there. I noticed that everyone saluted him militarily and he did that too, I didn't salute because I didn't know if it was right for me to do it. He was describing to me all the details of the place and the functions and hierarchy.

He took me into a room and said "Here, my friend, you can wear a uniform like this. You are still too young to join, but you will be, with great pride for us, our honorary cadet, if you accept, of course" and I smiled enthusiastically and said "Yes, the honor is totally mine, Sir". And he said "Take it, go over there in that locker room, you can start wearing it now, I'll tell you the rules you must obey when you're wearing this uniform. I'm sure you don't have the slightest problem abiding by rules." I said, "Yes sir" and went into the locker room. It was a little bit hard wearing a uniform for the first time in my life. When I left the locker room he said "Perfect, my friend, cadet" and came close to me, straightened the cap a little and adjusted some minor details on the uniform.

I smiled and said, "Thank you very much, Mr Thadeusz, Sir", and added "Now, it's late and my parents might be worried, I need to go home, if you don't mind, Sir" and he said "Sure, my friend" and I asked, "Can I go dressed like this, Sir?" And he said, "Of course you can, buddy". As I was leaving, he said "Oh, there is one detail, you need to get this haircut weekly" And I smiled and said "Yes, Sir".

And that's how I met my great friend Thadeusz, the one who best knows how to describe in detail life in the military, its rules and uniforms, and who makes me very proud when he calls me a friend and says I'm polite.

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