How everything started (True story) by Bettertobebald

---

This story is 100% true! I hope you enjoy it!

Everything started when I was around 15 or 16. Emo/gothic fashion was a trend among people my age, and I was completely into it. However, I was always attracted to guys who were the complete opposite—short-haired and clean-cut!

It was summer, and I had to leave my friends to go on vacation with my family to a small town near the sea. I was bored most of the time, so I played video games on my PlayStation Portable to pass the time.

One morning, my dad asked me to come with him to run some errands and do grocery shopping. He parked the car in front of an old-school barbershop. It was the first time I’d ever seen a place like that. I had medium-long emo hair dyed black, all styled and trimmed by myself. Getting my long hair professionally trimmed was expensive, and I always preferred asking my parents for books or video games instead of spending money on haircuts. I only went to a salon once a year for a professional cut and did the rest myself at home.

I didn’t even know what a barbershop really was. I thought they only offered beard trims or shaves. I asked my dad if he’d ever visited one of these places, and he explained that barbershops used to be everywhere in the past. However, most of them had turned into unisex hair salons to attract both male and female customers, making it easier to earn money.

We left the barbershop behind and went to the grocery store, which was packed with people. It took us about an hour to finish shopping.

When we got back to the car, my dad received a phone call and said he’d be a while. I decided to wait in the car while he talked. That’s when I noticed a guy standing in front of the barbershop.

He was tall, with black hair tipped in red, styled in a slick, side-parted retro look. His beard was neatly trimmed, and he was wearing a crisp white shirt with a black tie, black suit pants with very thin gray stripes, and polished brown leather shoes. I thought he looked incredibly handsome, especially with his sharp, well-dressed style.

We made eye contact for a moment, and I noticed he had piercing green eyes!

When my dad got back into the car, he commented, "What a nice-looking style! It’s rare to see young guys with slicked-back hair like that!"

I responded, "Yeah, I’ve never seen anyone like that before!"

Then my dad said, "I just got a call from the people vacationing next door. I invited them to lunch with us, so I need to grab a few more things from the store. You can wait in the car if you want."

Of course, I said yes and immediately grabbed my PlayStation from my bag. As my dad left, I turned it on and started playing.

Maybe three minutes later, I decided to check if the guy was still there. Now, he was inside the barbershop, talking to the barber. I wondered if he was going to get a trim.

The barber invited him to sit in an old-school red leather chair facing a mirror, so I could see both the back of his head and his face in the reflection.

The guy untied his black tie, and the barber folded the collar of his white shirt inward, securing a white strip around his neck before draping a black-and-white striped cape over him. I remember thinking, "Smart way to keep the collar clean!"

Then the barber turned the chair to face the window. I immediately pretended to focus on my game, just in case the guy noticed me watching! But curiosity got the better of me, and I glanced up again.

The barber combed all the guy’s hair downward, ruining the sleek, retro look. I thought he had to do it to make the haircut even neater. To my surprise, the barber picked up clippers and started cutting the sides of his hair. Using a comb to hold the top hair aside, the barber shaved the sides down to nothing—without even attaching a guard to the clippers!

He buzzed both sides and the back, leaving only the top combed down. Then, the barber combed the top hair backward, holding clippers in his other hand. I wondered, "Is he going to buzz the top, too?" And he did!

Right down the middle, the barber shaved a stripe, leaving the handsome guy with only a patch of hair in the middle of his head! The barber meticulously buzzed the rest until the guy was completely clipper-shaved. It was such a drastic change!

I thought the cut was finished, so I went back to my game, but curiosity made me look again. The barber was now wrapping a steaming towel around the guy’s head. "Must be a relaxing barbershop tradition," I thought.

When the barber returned, he removed the towel and applied thick white cream all over the guy’s buzzed head. He then picked up a straight razor and started shaving, leaving a stripe of bare skin in its wake. I was in shock—I’d never seen someone get their entire head shaved!

The barber shaved his head once, lathered it again, and shaved against the grain. After that, he used his fingers to check for any missed spots, relathered those areas, and even used a disposable razor to clean them up.

The slick-haired, well-dressed guy was now completely bald. I realized he hadn’t seen his new look yet because the mirror was behind him.

The barber wrapped another towel around his head, covering his eyes this time, and reclined the chair. He started trimming the guy’s beard, but I couldn’t see much because of the angle.

The barber put another towel on the guy. He was now "mummified" with towels. Later, the barber removed them and rubbed some cream on his head and face. Then, he put the chair back into a sitting position. The guy in front of me was now bald, with a Van Dyke-style beard. His eyes looked very small, as if he had just woken up after a long sleep.

The barber turned the chair, and the guy discovered his new look. He had a big smile and even let out a laugh. The barber removed the cape, and the guy immediately rubbed his smooth bald head. To be honest, I wanted to rub it too!

They exchanged some words, and the barber put another towel on his shoulders before applying something to his head. He even used a hair dryer on it—why?! The guy’s head was now very shiny, catching and reflecting sunlight off the back of his head!

The guy got his shirt and tie back into place. A shaved head looks very nice from the back when paired with a shirt collar resting on the neck.

While the guy was paying, someone knocked on the car window—it was my dad! I got out to open the car trunk because my dad had left me the keys. I asked him why he took so long, and he told me he had a surprise for me: The Sims 2 for PlayStation Portable! I thanked him and went back to the front of the car.

The guy was leaving the barber shop, and the barber said, "Thanks for coming! Enjoy your new look, David!"

It was at that moment I started to feel attracted to shaved-headed guys—I think they look very handsome!

Back to gaming: I launched The Sims 2 and created my character: David. Bald, with a Van Dyke beard, and well-dressed!

---