225: A Joy to Be Around

Today’s episode

Some people are a joy to be around. I have a story for you today about one of them, and what I learned about being more like him. 

But first, I’m John Certalic, and you are listening to episode 225 of You Were Made for This, the podcast about finding joy in being the person God created each of us to be. Namely, someone who reflects the character, image, and likeness of God in all our relationships. It’s the THIS we were made for.

Someone once told me “always have a doctor you like who is younger than you. The older ones retire, and then you are stuck and have to look for a new one.”  The same is true for barbers. I’m now on my third barber in the last 30+ years. First there was Paul, who retired. Then came John, and he retired, too.  Leaving me with Nick at the present moment.

I was with Paul the longest - for several decades. Besides haircuts, I learned from him an easy way to stain my deck and other useful household tips. I also had the joy of taking my twin grandsons to him when they were toddlers, and then into middle school. 

Paul was kind to them in their early years and more tolerant of their fidgeting around than I was. He had a jar of candy they could dip their hand into as a reward for sitting through their haircut. Laffy Taffy was their favorite.

Inviting your  barber to Thanksgiving dinner

My reward was watching them interact with Paul and the things they said that made both of us laugh. Like the time, with all sincerity of heart, one of them invited him to their house for Thanksgiving dinner. I miss those days with the boys.

Then Paul retired and I had to find someone new. For some odd reason I started going to the barber shop my father went to back in the 1950s and 60s. The owner was Buzz and he lived across the street from our house. As a kid, I think my father only ever took me once or twice to Buzz’s barber shop. Every other time my dad cut my hair himself. I recently recovered from the PTSD of this childhood memory.

By the time I returned to the place where Buzz cut hair, he was long gone. But the small shop was just as I remembered it. It drew me into my past like a slow moving train going through a dark tunnel. The shop was now owned by John, a barber older than me. I really liked him because he was fast and gave neck shaves as part of the haircut. Paul never did that, and I didn’t have the heart to ask him why.

Haircut injuries

My dad didn’t give neck shaves either, which was wise on his part. Instead, he gave accidental neck burns with the hot electric razor he used. So I was delighted when John shaved y my neck as a matter of course.

Using shaving cream and a straight-edge razor to shave off neck hairs on the back of my neck is the greatest feeling in the world. If money were no object, I’d visit a barber shop every couple of weeks just for a neck shave.

During my first visit back to this place of my youth I sat in John’s barber chair and imagined my father sitting in this same chair decades ago, having a boisterous conversation with Buzz while he cut my dad’s hair.

On another visit to see John I told him about my connection with his shop. I asked him if he knew Buzz, the original owner, and to my delight he said he did. He told me about his wife and kids, and how he got divorced and moved toArizona. Rumor has it, Buzz killed himself, John told me. My heart sank.

Barber Shop ambience takes a nose dive

I continued going to John for haircuts in what was for me a historic place and connection with my father and my childhood. But things changed one day, when John began replacing his 3 traditional barber chairs with lowriding black seats and back, and small chrome handled chairs found in hair salons. Big mistake, I thought.

There’s something special about traditional barber chairs from the 50s. Thick arm rests about five inches wide, covered in worn brown leather with compartments for an ashtray and your pack of cigarettes. 

I keep coming back, anyway, despite this loss of ambience. But then one day I called to make an appointment and was told John recently retired. I continued coming for haircuts with John’s successor while I looked for a new barber. One who gives neck shaves while I sit in a REAL barber chair and not one of those low riding models that girls sit in.

It took awhile, but on sunny Monday  I