Haircuts and Cold

Are the highlights of my day. Today was the first actually cold day we've had in a long while. After what I've come to recognize as the invariable 2 weeks of abnormally mild February weather, the real bone deep cold has set in and I felt the brunt of it today coming home from work. My freshly cut hair was radiating heat from my head like none other, so I was really feeling it. I waited outside from 12 minutes for the bus once I got to the stop, and while I could have chosen to wait it out with my hands in my pockets, I read my book instead, leading to a hightened awareness of how cold your hands can be while at the same time numb from it.

I finally got a haircut today, the first since before I visited America for Christmas, and it was much needed. There wasn't a lot I could really do with my hair anymore, and Rie cut it nice and short, which is good cause that means in two weeks it won't be unmanageable all over again. It also means my scalp gets a good chill session. Some of you may remember that at this point last year, I still had not had my first official haircut, and recalling the pictures of me from that time will at the same time remind us that I desperately needed a trim and that I was probably much warmer from it.

Anyway, the exciting thing about my haircut today was that before Ms. Highbridge (Takahasi) began she told me she had a favor to ask of me. My imagination strayed immediately to her naked on a sweaty summer night in my bed, as it often does when she's cutting my hair, but knowing that's probably not the kind of favor she meant, I prompted her to continue. As it turns out, she wanted my permission to take pictures of my haircut after we finished, for sumbission to a couple of salon magazines for modern young hairstyles as part of their highlight and ad.

Photoshy though I may be (honestly, I am, I'm not photogenic in the least), I of course said yes, cause, well, it's the closest thing to the aforementioned recurring fantasy as I figure I'm realistically gonna get. Er, that and if they really think I'm worth taking pictures of, who am I to turn them down? There's one thing I've learned over the years, and thankfully through no experience of my own: don't piss off your hairdresser. It's arguably a worse idea than pissing off your cook.

So after she got done taking the pics, I told her that I of course will want to see the photos in the magazine, and see how I can get a copy for myself, so that I can keep it forever as a brief moment of fame in my life. Who knows, maybe other gaijin will see the pics leafing through the magazine while nervously sitting, waiting for their own haircut, scared to death of what a Japanese barber might do to their precious Western hair, see my photo, gasp with the sudden realization there is hope, point to my picture, and walk away with a haircut they like. I know a great many salons in this country pride themselves on and use their ability to cut Western hair as a mark of ability and repute, and as such being probably the ONLY white person to patronize that particular establishment marked me for publicity from the very beginning, but my ego has a hard time finding anything wrong with that, even if it's only by virtue of being a normal guy in someone else's very different normal environment.

Salons I figure show off their ability to cut Western hair even marginally well for this reason: the Japanese can shop around. Westerners I imagine, however, like myself, and many immigrants held in the dreadful manacles of the language barrier around the world, will find one place that does the job well enough not to complain too much, and never ever go anywhere else ever again so long as it's possible. From the moment I got a decent haircut the first time, they I and I knew I was never going to go anywhere else again. Not only that, but they, like me, will most likely tell their friends about their safe spot, and thusly ensure business for that company for however long we stick around.

Anyway, I got my picture taken today for being white and getting my haircut. Sweet action. Clostest I'll probably ever come to being a model.