0141b — Just Add Dudes (Patreon)

Back in the days when my mom would sit and read in the chairs at the barbershop while I got my little haircuts, I would sit silently and drink in the Talk of Men murmuring around me. Silver-topped codgers and mystacinous burleys shared mundane details from hunting trips, mild skepticism of town politics, fresh Carson zingers. I was a non-participatory, probationary onlooker. An NPC, in today's lingo. I wouldn't have dared speak if not asked a direct question. I internalized and imprinted their calm energy, polite baton-passing, and circumspect replies. A simple but positive assessment of the finished trim, always with the hand mirror to view the shaved nape, and a sweeping of the fluff before the next customer. The barber formally offered me a lollipop as mom tendered the few small bills, and I received it politely, praying I would not be called upon for a response more complex and vulnerable than Thank You. I never was.