A Year of Simplicity Part II by Deke Cutter

---

A Year of Simplicity, Part II

Tom had misused company secrets and got caught. The company owner’s daughter, JoAnn, who was the woman Tom loved, had demanded that he spend a year doing menial jobs to make restitution and to learn humility. Part of his year in the wilderness included keeping his previously luxuriant hair cropped short. This is Part II, as requested by several readers.

Tom had spent three weeks in his ‘new life’ of simplicity and hard menial jobs. He came home from the burger joint stinking of the grease and all the other smells that clung to his polyester uniform. He barely had time to wash it out in the sink on the three days that he stocked shelves at the supermarket where he worked a second job. While he did have some savings, even after paying JoAnn’s father monetary restitution, he was living on his wages alone. He looked in the bathroom mirror after showering to get rid of the smell of Burgerland. He had become accustomed to seeing himself with the viciously short flat top the barber had given him, including the way his ears stuck out like twin teacup handles. He could see that his hair had grown in the three weeks. He hated the thought of returning to the barber again to face the barber’s new apprentice. But the price of the cut was half of what he would pay, otherwise and JoAnn was expecting him to keep his hair cropped.

Hal, the barber, welcomed Tom with a big smile. "Hey there fellow, how are the two jobs workin’ out for ya?"

"I’m getting by," Tom replied. "You were right about short hair, though. My uniform stinks at the end of my Burgerland shifts. I can’t imagine how bad my hair would be."

"This here is my apprentice, Toby. It’s his first day and he’s going to try his hand at cleaning you up." Toby smiled shyly and led Tom to his chair, next to Hal’s. "Since you’re a working man and like it short, this will be a good chance for Toby to work on his clipper skills."

"I’m glad I can help with his training," Tom humbly replied, while he was really worried about how bad this could be. As it turned out, with good reason. Toby hadn’t quite mastered the skill of keeping the pressure even, as he pushed the clippers up the back of Tom’s head. And there was that big bald ‘divot’ in the back where the guard had slipped off. The landing strip Toby created was more of a skid mark on the crown. The top looked slightly lopsided. Toby did his best to apply some butch wax to the front and wonky sides. "Tom looked in the mirror, keeping his misery on the inside and said, "not bad for a first try."

Hal sent Toby back to the storeroom to restock the bathroom with fresh toilet paper. He said to Tom, "nice of you to encourage the boy. If I clean up his work, I’d have to charge you full price. So it’s up to you".
Tom, remembering that he needed every penny and trying to remain humble, said, "that’s alright, this will do me fine. He paid the $7.00 and left. That night, as he brushed his teeth, he looked into the mirror and started to weep. The severity of his punishment, the demeaning way he was treated at work, his lack of money and friends, and this latest scalping had really hit home. Meanwhile, Hal was on the phone with JoAnn telling her the following: "my nephew really made a mess of Tom’s hair, but Tom took it like a champ. The kid is hopeless as a barber, but his acting classes are paying off for him. "Sure, I’ll let you know when he comes in again and thanks for the cash. It will help my nephew with his tuition."

JoAnn’s reply, "I’m glad my private detective found you. Tom has a lot of good in him, but he needs this year to really give him a wake-up call and a sense of who he should be."

As Spring moved toward summer, Tom received news from JoAnn that he would be leaving Burgerland for a new job as laborer for a company that laid down asphalt driveways. But he would bekeeping his second job at the supermarket. While he was happy to leave the fast-food franchise, he did not look forward to the new job. Going to the library, he found out what he could about laborers on asphalt (also known as blacktop) crews. This was back breaking work, often involving breaking out old concrete with sledgehammers, and laying the asphalt that was over 400 degrees. "On a break during a nightshift at the supermarket, Tom was drinking some coffee from his thermos and telling his colleague, Earl, about the new job. Earl opined that Tom would have some sore muscles that first week. Tom noted that he was going to have to get a haircut the next day and was really hoping the apprentice barber wasn’t there. Earl asked, "is that who’s been giving you these terrible botch jobs?"

"Yeah, but their cheap," Tom replied. I just want something even to go to the new job with on Monday."

"Well heck, son, I’ve been buzzing my boys’ hair for years, and I cut my own. You come home with me tonight and I’ll take care of you. And the price will be better than cheap, it will be free."

Tom was delighted by the kindness shown to him by Earl. Their late shift ended as the sun came up. Earl’s wife had breakfast waiting for them at his tidy townhouse in a working class neighborhood, not far from Tom’s little apartment. After breakfast, Earl got his clippers and a towel from the linen closet and invited Tom out into their near little back yard. Earl’s wife plugged an extension cord into a socket near the door. "OK, Tom, I hope you are ready for a good summer haircut, no muss, no fuss." With the towel pulled around his shoulders, Tom did not even think to ask what guard Earl was using. The clippers were turned on and Earl stood in front of Tom and pushed the clippers straight back from his hairline. "This will take care of all this uneven mess." He continued to push the clippers all over Tom’s head. "A nice ‘Baldy Sour,’ is just what you need for your new job."

Tom sat silently, accepting of his haircut as what was needed. His journey through a year of simplicity had slowly taught him that he should be humble in accepting acts of kindness and also to be less concerned with externals. He would look how he looked, and he now needed to demonstrate his worth by his actions. When Earl had finished buzzing Tom down to a Number 1 all over, he led Tom back into the house and directed him to the tiny powder room on the main floor. Tom looked at himself in the mirror and thought "well Jug Head, you really look like a laborer now." But to Earl, he said, "looks great Earl, I can’t thank you enough."

Earl’s smile melted Tom’s heart. "Tom, we’ll just make this a weekly occurrence, son. We’ll have you looking clean and my Elvira will make sure you get one good meal a week."

Tom had hoped that this was a one-off scalping and that he might, at least, grow enough hair for a return of his first short haircut, but he realized it was not to be. Oddly, knowing that this weekly ritual would please Earl and Elvira, people he never would have known or cared about in the past, made him feel good.

The ‘Baldy Sour’ was as good a short haircut as any for the hot grueling days Tom faced working for the paving contractor. The first week was the worst, as he used muscles that he didn’t even know existed and went home sore and stinking each night. The crew were decent enough guys. The foreman told him, on the first day that since they already had a "Tall Tom" and a "Skinny Tom," they would just call him "Baldy." Tom removed his cap with the company logo on it, rubbed his head and just said, "OK, sir."

As the summer progressed, JoAnn could no longer depend on reports from Hal the barber, so she required Tom to visit her more often. He still got no further than the foyer of her home and the meetings were generally short. She could tell that her program was having a positive impact on Tom, though and she relished seeing his bald head and new humble attitude.

After Tom’s, frankly, miserable summer breaking concrete, and raking hellishly hot asphalt, JoAnn had come up with a radically different project for his final 3 months of living simply. He would not be working a normal kind of low-paying job, she had arranged for him to live as a novice, in a monastery not far from their city. Knowing that he had the cash reserves available from his "old life," JoAnn knew he could pay the rent and utilities on his simple apartment while he was "away."

Tom took a bus to the town closest to the monastery and was met by Brother Vincent, a young-looking monk wearing a long brown robe. "Thomas, I am Brother Vincent, welcome. Please, let’s get in the truck and start our journey to the monastery." As they drove into the countryside, Brother Vincent spoke little, and Tom felt a certain peace in his company. He noticed that Brother Vincent’s hair was less than an inch in length with a noticeable ‘white’ line around the edges, symptomatic of a very recent haircut. When they arrived at the monastery, Brother Vincent turned to Tom and said, "I will be taking your to our abbot, Brother Raymond. We are a small community, 12 of us have taken our final vows. You will join two novices, young men here discerning if they have a vocation." Tom thanked Brother Vincent and followed him to the Abbot’s study.

Brother Raymond welcomed Tom warmly. "Tom, welcome. We are happy to have you here with us. While you will not be joining the novitiate, we will be asking you to accept some of disciplines or our order. You need not join us for the prayers during the small hours, but you are welcome to join us, if you wish. As you may have noticed Brother Vincent and I have simply cropped hair. A number three blade all over. It is an outward manifestation of humility. Two of our brothers have more elaborate tonsures, but we do not encourage this. Novices have their heads shaved bald, as a sign of their new state of life. After the shaving. You, like them, will be able to receive the regular cropping. I understand that you have education and experience in accounts management and the computer programs needed to assist in such work. Along with your share of the work in our small farming and baking concerns, you will also work on modernizing our accounts." Tom was surprised that the abbot was giving him control over the very business process which had caused his downfall, but he hoped this could help prove his contrition and growth. Tom’s musings were interrupted when Brother Raymond started to speak again. "While you are with us, you will be called Brother Matthew. Brother Anthony is waiting for you in our clothing store. He will give you your novice robes and he will shave your head, a much easier job than that faced by Brother Anthony with some of our more hirsute novices."

Brother Anthony met Tom in the large room where the monks clothing was kept. It was also the laundry and tailoring room, and sometimes as a barbershop. Once Tom had been fitted, Brother Anthony had hm sit down. "OK, Tom, when I am done, you will be Brother Matthew. It seems like this won’t be a big change for you. You already have very short hair."

Tom smiled at this and said, "it’s a long story, and a year ago, I had and enjoyed long hair. My current short hair is part of a year’s simple living I am doing to make amends and start over after a serious mistake I made." As Tom was talking, Brother Anthony had begun running the guardless clippers over Tom’s stubbly hair. This sensation of clippers on skin had become so familiar to Tom that he barely thought about it. However, when the shaving cream was put on his head and carefully smoothed all over, Tom realized that another step in his journey was about to begin.

Brother Anthony said, "don’t worry Tom, I’ve done this before. I’ll be shaving your head twice to make sure I don’t miss anything, just relax." And Tom did. The whole process was surprisingly fast and Tom was shocked at the feel of his head. Brother Anthony reached into the pouch that hung from his rope-like belt and pulled out a small mirror, barely two inches by two inches. "We aren’t supposed to be vain, so this is the only mirror I have. I thought you would want a look at yourself."

Tom took the mirror, looked at himself and smiled. "You did a great job. Thank you." Strangely for Tom, he felt no sense of loss. His shaved head simply ‘was’ and that was that." Brother Anthony helped him with his robe and Tom became, ‘Brother Matthew." He thrived at the monastery. He learned about the farming they did and found the work less challenging than the hot summer days laying blacktop. He felt trepidation, at first, sitting down in the office and booting up the computer for the first time. However, he soon found himself deeply emersed in the job at hand, and wanted only to help the men he now thought of as his ‘brother monks.’ It was almost two months before Brother Anthony stopped Tom after the ‘Great Silence,’ the period from 8:00 AM until Noon when the monks did not speak. "Brother Matthew, come down to the clothing store after we eat our lunch and I will give you a haircut." With no mirror and few reflective surfaces, Brother Matthew had barely given his hair or its length a thought. In the spirit of fraternity and discipline he had found at the monastery, he simply complied. Much quicker than the last time, Brother Anthony had him cropped with the number 3 blade and a bit of an outline at the neck and ears. With the exception of his white garments, he looked just like all the others.

About two weeks before his time at the monastery was going to end, Brother Matthew, freshly shorn again, sought out the about. "Brother Raymond, Iknow that my time here is growing short, but may I beg your indulgence and stay another three months in order to complete the task you gave me and train whoever will take on this work when I return to the world?"

"Brother Matthew, you have grown so much in your time with us, it would be a great joy to have you stay on. However, I must confer with the other brothers and with your sponsors who will be coming to visit us this Saturday."

The monastery voted unanimously for Brother Matthew to stay. That left only JoAnn and her father. At noon on Saturday, Brother Matthew joined his brothers at the lunch table. After lunch Brother Raymond motioned for him to follow the abbot to the ‘day room’ where visitors were received. Brother Matthew waited in the corridor and Brother Raymond went into the room and spoke with his guests. Then he opened the door and said gently, Brother Matthew, please join us." With humility, the man they knew as Tom entered the room. Both Joann and her father looked at him in stunned silence. Brother Matthew looked at them both and smiled. "Thank you for making this journey and thank you for this year of simplicity. JoAnn’s father broke their silence and said, "Tom, I don’t think I would have recognized you even in ‘civilian clothes.’ There is a serenity about you and you look so different without your fancy hair style."

JoAnn added, "We have agreed with your request, expressed to us by Brother Raymond, to stay on here for three more months."

"I am truly thankful for your consideration. I have been keeping a journal of my year and I will provide it to you when I complete my time here, if that is to your liking." They agreed and then Brother Matthew/Tom politely asked if he might be excused to get back to work as the brothers were canning vegetables from their gardens and ‘all hands’ were needed.

After he had left, JoAnn’s father looked at Brother Raymond and said, "this is a changed man. Everything about him is different. I can’t imagine him returning to work for us again."

"Your daughter had wanted him to learn, grow, and (looking at JoAnn), perhaps suffer along the way." Brother Raymond continued. "I have talked to Brother Matthew, and he has changed. He explained how difficult the first months were when he had given up everything familiar. By the time he arrived here, he was already a humble young man. Like all the novices, his head was shaved when he arrived and our barber said that he had never seen a man so completely unbothered by the process. But I suspect you are correct, I think that when Brother Matthew becomes Tom again, he may seek a different life."

And so he did. On his last day at the monastery, he asked Brother Anthony to crop his hair one last time. He removed his garments and laid them in the washing basket. He put on the clothing he had worn six months before and bade farewell to the abbey. Tom returned to his apartment and set to work on finalizing his journal. He did not feel comfortable visiting JoAnn’s home now, for he no longer looked for a reconciliation with her. Instead, he made an appointment with her and her father at their business. He was lucky to have a neighbor who was a tailor and could alter one of his old suits so that it fit his new more muscular body. He couldn’t quite get used to mirrors and fussing with his appearance, so he returned to Hal’s barbershop and asked Hal for a Number 3 buzz cut. Hal was so surprised to see Tom back in his shop that he simply smiled and complied. Hal noticed that Tom neither looked in the mirror nor did he touch his hair at all after the haircut. Tom paid him and said, "see you in three weeks." Tom’s next stop was his old office building. He presented his journal to his former employer and his former girlfriend. He asked them if they believed he had completed his ‘penance.’ They agreed that he had.

JoAnn’s father asked Tom if he wanted to return to his old job. "Sir, it would be an honor to return to work, knowing I had your confidence, but this year has taken me on a different path. I have applied to AmeriCorps and helping communities in need. Thus ended Tom’s year of simplicity and started his life of service.

---