Moving in 1976 Part 2 by Som

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Moving in 1976 Part 2
In 1976 we moved to a new town. Before I went to my first day at the new school, my mother took me to an old-fashioned Matthews barbershop to get a haircut.
I had already settled in pretty well at the new school. My hair had grown about 1 centimeter. We received a notice at school that next week on Monday we would be taking pictures of our classes and parents who were interested could pay extra to have individual photos of the student themselves. At the same time, the school advised parents to consider the length of the boys' hair.
My father asked me if I needed to cut my hair. I objected that I still had short hair, which I had never had before. I told him that the comment about hair was meant for those with long hair.
On Friday evening, a very good friend and classmate, Mike, stopped by with a freshly cut hair. After he left, my father said that he looked very intelligent. To which I just laughed.
On Saturday after breakfast my dad told me we were going to Matthews Barbershop. I wanted to protest but my dad made such a fuss so I gave up, got dressed and went with him.
There were 4 old men in the barbershop, sitting on waiting chairs and 7 boys standing in the corner. They were all nervous. They were from our school and their parents wanted them to get their hair cut for Monday's photo shoot.
My dad went with me to the barbershop. Mr. Matthews said, my son Alex is going to have his photo shoot at school on Monday. Could you give him a smart haircut? But I can't wait for him. Mr. Matthews agreed and my dad left.
I was disappointed to be standing in Matthews Barbershop again waiting for another short haircut. I haven't found out where the modern barbershops are in town yet and I'm already waiting for another short haircut. Every time I watched the haircuts of the boys who sat in the barber's chair. They ended up with a half-shaven nape, a 3-centimeter shave around the ears and short bangs.
When it was my turn, the barber wrapped me in a sheet. He said Alex, today is going to be a smart haircut. Yes, I said. I thought it wouldn't be so short today.
The barber took out an electric hair clipper. The metal blade had fine teeth. I was already waiting for the command to tilt my head forward. To my surprise, the barber tilted my head back, I saw the stop of the room, I just felt the metal blade on my forehead. The scissors started to whine and the barber ran them all over the top of my head.
I was in a complete panic. I sat on pins and needles. The barber turned my head to one side and then the other side of my head. Finally, he said, tilt your head forward and cut the hair from the neck to the nape of the neck.
When I finally caught sight of myself in the mirror, I couldn't believe my eyes. I had only 4 millimeters of stubble on my entire head. The barber changed the metal blades, for even finer ones. First, he cut the stubble from the left and then the right side of my head. He ordered me to tilt my head forward and began cutting the nape of my neck upwards. When he turned off the scissors, I saw white skin on both sides of my head.
The barber prepared foam to apply to the nape of my head and both sides of my head. He sharpened the razor and carefully began shaving. I didn't understand what was happening. After all, my hairstyle was supposed to be smart.
The barber finished shaving, removed the remnants of foam on the shaved part, applied disinfectant water with a sharp smell. He applied a greasy cream to the top of my head and combed my hair. The 4-millimeter stubble was shiny and stood like the quills of a hedgehog, both sides of my head were perfectly shaved. Before the barber released me from his chair, he stood behind me with a hand mirror. In the reflection, I saw that the entire back of my head was completely shaved, without a single hair.
Mr. Matthews stated The shorter the hair, the smarter the hairstyle. After removing the sheet, I thanked Mr. Matthews for the haircut, I paid. After leaving the barber's, I ran home crying and stroked the shaved parts of my head.
At first, my father was surprised by my military haircut. I told him that Mr. Matthews was referring to The shorter the hair, the smarter the hairstyle. Finally, my father agreed and said that the barber was right. Alex, you look very smart.
I had not been home for an hour when Mike came. When he saw me, he exclaimed Wooow, I haven't seen a haircut like that in a long time. Some boys have it during the summer or have their heads completely shaved. Then he laughed and said You probably won't need a comb for long, you can sell it. Alex, you'll probably win the prize for the shortest hair in the class in the photo shoot.
I was shocked on Monday at school. All 10 boys with short hair had freshly cut hair, probably at Matthews Barbershop. Mike was wrong. One other boy had the same short military haircut as me. But out of the other 29 boys with long hair, only 5 had a little hairdo.
Whenever my dad mentions something about smart hair, I quickly get out of his sight so he doesn't want me to scalp him again.

Thanks in advance for your feedback and comments.

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