Barbering Humour

Us barbers have a ton of jokes about barbering, the most well known of which is the "but I only have one comb" line. I came across the comic shown below, the other day, and I loved the style of it so I did a bit of browsing and here's just a few mid-week giggles for ya!

(From The Perry Bible Fellowship Comic)

(Off The Mark Comic)

(Conroy Cat - DToons Comic)

I find the last one especially funny as I used to love Jem (80's cartoon).
Finally, here's a well known paradox conundrum to get you thinking... (I was told this and instantly came up with the answer I've written below - the person who told me it said that they'd never thought of that!)

The barber shaves everyone who does not shave themself. 

The barber never shaves someone who shaves themself.

Who shaves the barber?

Answer? Highlight here to see: No one! The barber is a female!

- BE

(Work-)Station In Life

I've found that the barbers I work with take pride in keeping their workstations neat and tidy, and this makes me really happy. At the end of everyday (and sometimes during also) the counter-tops get fully cleaned down and the mirrors polished. Combs and shavettes are kept in Barbicide in between cuts, clippings and tissue-paper are swept away after each client, and used towels and facecloths are put in the wash-bins (one for the navy towels, one for the whites).
However everyone has a slightly different way they like to lay out their tools: 
The barber beside me lines up her clipper guides from big to small, I like it the other way around. 
One of my other colleagues puts their scissors vertically on their mat, I like mine horizontally.
I like to use Black & White Pommade so I have two different tubs of it at my station (I also like the shaping cream and the beeswax cream but we only have one of those open at a time so they hop from station to station).
I use an old Ever-Ready shaving brush to clean my clippers with, the barber beside me uses a nail brush.
Here's my station at the start of the day (the shavette is put in the Barbicide with my combs after each use):

Every place has a spray bottle, a container of talc, a can of Clippercide and a sterilising jar of Barbicide. The white on the left of the image is the sink. I love laying out my tools and having a clean, presentable station. I hope your barber does to!

- BE

The Tipping Point

A quick observation:

When people are paying for a service, no matter how small the cost, they frequently tip.

When people receive the same service from free, 9 times out of 10 they won't tip.

Unfortunately I can not charge people for haircuts etc. as I'm doing my final year apprenticeship so it means I never get any tips either. It's interesting the difference in mentality we have towards getting something for free and getting it cheaply. I got my first tip today and the customer felt the need to ask if it was ok to tip me before giving me it. I guess my service is a bit of a grey area of confusion for people. None the less, I love having someone in my chair, and having a good chat while snipping away and then having them pleased with the end result makes me really happy. Most of my clients seem to be students or unemployed people and I like knowing that I'm helping them save a few euro that they probably need for food more than they do for 'luxury' things like haircuts. Funnily enough, in a vice versa comparision; when my friends come into me they often buy me lunch as a thank you - so I get paid in food! Huzzah!

- BE

Sideburns, Locks and Mutton Chops

I was in work last week and I noticed that the barbers would alternately use the term "sideburns" and "locks" when speaking to a customer and it got me thinking; there are many terms for those pieces of hair that grow down the side of a gent's face but what is the correct term and where did it come from?

I used my Google-Fu and found out that originally the word "Burnsides" was used, taken from the name of Sir Ambrose Everett Burnside who was a Civil War General in the 19th century. He was also a well known politician who was noted for his considerably hairy facial sides and smooth chin! Over time the term got switched around to the more common term "sideburns" that we know and use today.
In Judaism the curls men wear are called "sidelocks (or payots)" which is most likely where we get the abbreviation "locks". The length, thickness and presentation of a man's payots are determined by his sect. Yemenite Jews will wear them long, sometimes down to their forearm, while the Gur tuck them under a yarmulke.
As for the term "Mutton Chops"... well that comes from the fact that the mutton-chop style sideburn looks like the aforementioned cut of meat, made out of hair, and stuck on either side of one's face, much like the lovely Wolverine in the picture above.


So call them what you will; grow them bushy, groom them close, or see how many meat products you can fashion out of hair! Whichever way you choose to style it, it seems that cheek hair is just as versatile as the hair on your head!
- BE