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DEL.ICIO.USA haircut, a shave and a good feeling that I’m not just a customer
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
I got my hair cut the other day.
I go to the Duluth Haircutter Barber Shop. I rediscovered it when I got out of the hospital after my stroke last July. Back then, I was relegated to a wheel chair and I was a mess, including my hair - well, what little is left of it.
They cleaned me up well. Cut my hair nice and neat, trimmed my eyebrows (I had never even thought about that - typical bachelor), and they used a razor and shaving cream to clean up my neck. That was really cool.
I have been going back ever since. Partly because I can measure my healing progress over time and let people who don’t see me every day tell me how I’m doing, walking and talking. But mostly because they are just nice people who really care about their work.
They are equally fluent speaking Dawg, Jacket, Tiger (Clemson, Auburn and LSU). They can even speak a little Demon Deacon. They know about Atlanta professional sports, local and national politics, deer hunting and cook outs.
Barber shops have always been the place to go to find out what’s going on in town, and Duluth Haircutter is no different. I feel much more like a friend than I do like a customer when I go there, and that’s not an easy thing to find these days in the expansion of suburbia.
Dwight, the proprietor, was telling me that he volunteers his services at Joan Glancy hospital. He gives hair cuts to those who have been in the hospital and the rehabilitation facility. I think he does it because it’s the right thing to do. Whatever his reason, I respect and admire him for doing so.
As I was walking out the door, Dwight said, “So when are you going to write about us in the paper?”
“I don’t know,” I replied, feeling all nice and cleaned up. “I’d be afraid that you wouldn’t like what I said and you’d drop the clippers in mid cut and say, ‘gee, Bill, I’m sorry about that. I don’t know what happened’.”
“Well,” he said, “don’t write anything bad about us.” And he smiled.
I wouldn’t do it. They are good people, and they do good work. And no, this is not an advertisement. This is simply one observation I have about what makes Duluth unique.
Do you have a place in Duluth where you feel more like a friend than a customer? What makes your town unique?
Permalink | Comments (1) | Categories: Bill Allen
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By Atico
June 13, 2007 3:28 PM | Link to this
Thanks for letting us know that there are still charitable people in this world from all walks of life that truly help those in need in ways only they can provide.
My humble thanks to Dwight the barber.