For the last 8-10 years I have been getting my haircuts at the same place. The hairdresser (or barber I should probably say) is a 3rd generation barber. The place was a small shop downtown, with no need for booking in advance, you just came and sat down in queue.
One of the many reasons I became a regular customer is the way he shaped my hair when cutting it. I am not sure if it is the classical training or the long experience, but when he cut my hair, it was shaped in a way that made it fall naturally that way each morning after a shower, without needing any products in the hair. I am not sure I have ever experienced anything similar with other hairdressers.
His skills was evident, not only for myself, but in that there was no need for advertising, clients just came on a regular basis, spread by word of mouth. Over the years I have seen elderly retired clients who has probably gotten their hair done there as long as I have been alive, and young students going there for perhaps their first time.
My brother was one of the other clients, but when he went to get a haircut earlier this month, he just found a note on the door where the barber informed that he was retiring, and sending thanks to all clients over the years. The company had actually been in operation for 128 years, but he was the last in the line of barbers, so now was the time to end it.
This almost turns into a philosophical question for me, where does one find such craftsmen these days?
I do not think that I go to far out on a limb if I state that the status of craftsmen in our society is lower than what is was historically, nor that the number of generational craftsmen (where the son/daughter take the same profession as the parent) is lower than it used to be.
It is probably a long winded discussion that should involve some good friends and a long evening to try and understand why and how society has changed to place a lower value on the traditional craftsmen skills. All I think I want to say right now is that I find it sad that so much of the traditional skills and knowledge, so hardly won over the centuries has dwindled or been so easily lost in the last century. The classical example is the roman concrete which is often said to be much more durable than the modern equivalent, but the list also includes wooden boat building, shoe making, stone masonry etc.
To my mind, having skilled craftsmen is ultimately a question about sovereign crisis readiness; In the case of a war or or similar, a country need to be able to produce or adapt large amount of defence material, and I am not sure we will be able to defend against an aggressor with large amount of phone cleaners, marketing executives and other “office-jobs”. Not to say that they do not have their place in modern society (who would want an entire country wiped out from a virus spread by uncleaned telephones), but we should be able to structure our society so that we have a better balance in the value we attach to different trades and professions.
The next time you have a choice, choose a local craftsman to do or produce something you need, and support your country’s emergency readiness!
As for me, I will now have to venture into the unknown to find a new hairdresser, and who knows, maybe I end up with a pink mohawk?
Thank you for the service over the years mr. Barber!
PS!
Extra credit if you understand the telephone virus joke!