Hanging Out At The Facebook Barbershop
Despite so many services moving online: shopping, dining, work, getting your haircut is still something that you have to get in your car and head out to your barber.
Oh, I am a little barber
And I go my merry way
With my razor and my leeches
I can always earn my pay— Man of La Mancha “The Barber song
My barber, fortunately, doesn’t use leeches. But, I’ve been going to the same barber for the past 25 years. Mary is the name of my barber. She owns Dean’s Style Shop in Orem, UT. I’ve never met Dean. Mary bought him out years ago. When I go for a haircut, Mary asks about my kids. We talk about hunting or the weather. She had a recent water leak in her house. Insurance covered it, but it was a pain to live with the renovations.
Barber shops have been a gathering place for centuries. In many places the barber shop is where you go to not only get a haircut, but to exchange information and pleasantries with the other patrons.
It occurred to me that Facebook has become our modern day barber shop. You can’t get your hair cut, of course. But, you gather to discuss politics or religion. You gather around the same group, often in your discussions.
Today was election day in the United States. My friends come from across the political spectrum. We have each posted and commented on each others posts. We argue. We discuss. We each have our positions.
But, like any group of friends gathering to discuss, at the end of the day we go away friends. So, if you see me online, feel free to come by and talk politics.
Just don’t expect you can get your hair cut.
Stay safe
Rodney M Bliss is an author, columnist and IT Consultant. His blog updates every weekday. He lives in Pleasant Grove, UT with his lovely wife, thirteen children and grandchildren. Order Miscellany III A Collection of Holiday Short Stories, an anthology including his latest short story, “You Can Call Me Dan” here
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