Summer children's camp 1971. by Domko

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Summer children's camp 1971.
Erick, my mother told me. At the beginning of the holidays, you will go to a children's summer camp, which will last for 3 weeks. I protested that I didn't want to go to the camp, because I wouldn't know anyone there. But my mother said that she has already registered me and I will definitely find new friends there, because I am already 10 years old.
At school, I found out that my classmate Dávid would also go to this camp, so I made peace with the fact that I would be in the camp for the first time. Once my mother showed me instructions on what to bring to the camp and hygiene instructions. They recommended to parents that boys get a haircut before starting. I wasn't very interested, because I knew that right before the end of the school year, my mother would take me to her barber for a little haircut. I have fairly long hair, covering my eyes, reaching about my nose, like most boys my age in the 1970s.
About 5 days before starting the camp, my mother told me that when she got home from work, I should wait for her in the square so that she could have my hair cut. I knew it would just be a small haircut.
I waited for my mother as per her instructions. I saw her from a distance that she was going with one gentleman and 2 boys. Both boys had short, unfashionable haircuts. When we met, I joined them. The gentleman was my mother's work colleague and the boys were his sons. I met the boys, the older one was called John and he was 13 years old, the younger one was called Leo and he was 9 years old. The boys and I started talking and I didn't realize at all that we weren't going towards my mother's barbershop. I was taken aback when we pulled up in front of Clements old fashioned barber shop. The boys and their father entered the barber shop first. My mother told me to enter this old-fashioned barber shop. I told my mother that I just wanted a little haircut. Mother just smiled and told me not to worry about my hair so much.
Not only the barber was old, but also the equipment of the barber shop. We sat down on the waiting chairs. I realized that classmate Robin, who has the shortest hair in the class, goes to this barber shop every month. I was still convinced that my hair would just be styled.
The barber called another client. A mother with a 7-year-old boy with relatively short hair got up from the waiting chairs. The barber took a child's high wooden chair from the corner. The mother put the boy on a chair. The boy was turned away from the mirror. The barber wrapped him in a sheet and asked the mother, how are we going to cut this child's hair? The mother said to say that she wanted him to have a classic boy's haircut. When the barber finished cutting, the boy's hair was really short.
The barber cut several more old men. When another called, John got up from the waiting chair and sat down in the barber's chair. When the barber wrapped him in a sheet, he asked how we were going to cut this child's hair. The father responded by giving his sons classic boy haircuts. The barber started cutting John without delay. When the barber finished his haircut I noticed that he has short hair like his classmate Robin. When Leo went to get his haircut, the barber rebuilt the child's high wooden chair on which his father had placed him. Even now, the chair was facing away from the mirror. Leo also ended up with a really short haircut.
Now it was my turn. It was humiliating for me that they had to put me on a child's high wooden chair. Until now, I have always sat by the hairdresser in her chair. My mother's colleague stood up and helped me onto the chair. I also couldn't see myself in the mirror, but I was looking in the direction of the waiting chairs. I smiled at the boys. With my smile, I wanted to show them to look, because I will only get a small adjustment of my long hair. At that, the barber asked, and how are we going to cut this child's hair. Mother said to cut my hair like these two boys. My throat tightened. I wanted to scream, please not like that, but only a grunt came out of my throat.
The barber was already forcefully pushing my head forward. The electric clipper was turned on, the blades of which I could feel on my neck and gradually went up the back of my head to the top of my head. The first about 4 inches of hair fell to the ground. The barber gradually turned his head and cut the hair from both sides of the head, which fell to the ground. Finally, he also cut the hair on the top of my head. He took a pair of scissors and cut my bangs high above my eyebrows. I looked at the boys, who were sitting with their father and my mother on the waiting chairs. I saw that they have very short bangs and almost their entire forehead is visible. But the barber pushed my head forward again and cut the remaining short hair on the back and sides of the head with another clipper with very fine teeth. The barber moistened the back of my neck and sides above my ears. In a small bowl, use a brush to lather the white paste. He applied the created foam to the parts of my head that he had previously moistened. I could feel him gradually scraping it. I could see almost all my hair on the ground. It was a great ordeal for me and I was glad when the barber loosened the sheet from me. I jumped off my chair. I saw myself in the mirror for a little while. I've never had hair this short. I was convinced that I had exactly the same short hair as John and Leo. 2 inches of clean shaven skin above the ears and about 6 inches above the collar. The longest hair on the top of the head was no more than 2 inches.
Mother's colleague then said, boys and now you are ready to enter the camp.
Another day at school was a horror for me. I have never experienced so much ridicule.
In 5 days we entered the camp. John and Leo had the shortest hair. They called us the unfashionable brothers.

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