The Barbershop: Is it an Essential Business?

First and foremost, I want it to be known that I am not a political individual and don’t claim any particular leanings. Because, in short: I don’t give a damn. But this year has been one hell of a trying year and has put everyone to the test, which has caused me to pay attention more than usual. Still loosely, but more-so… Regardless of your situation, we were all put to the test and it sure as hell sucked. For some it was worse than others. Myself as a barber was out of work for six months. SIX MONTHS. As someone who is all about earning every single penny with the work they put in, this was hard. I can’t lie, it was extremely difficult on various levels. But with the community and foundation I had built with clients, there was an immeasurable amount of support and I can’t help but thank each and every one of them every time I see them. Without that foundation, I don’t know if I could’ve had an “easier” time getting into a good headspace, as many of them described. Unfortunately, that wasn’t the case for many…

Even so, not every barber, let alone every barbershop has that. So that raises the question: Are barbershops essential?

Early on during the initial Shelter In Place, a lot of people had deemed the barbershop (as well as salons. For the sake of my profession and not having to type it out ever single time, the industry will simply be referred to as barbershops) as non-essential. To a certain degree, I get it… It can be considered a luxury expense. The hollow argument of ‘you can do it at home’ will always be there, and should that be applied to everything else in life? I mean, do you have to eat out? Not at all. Yes, while to some it’s a luxury to eat out all the time, but it’s also healthy to change things up every once in a while. It brings back that mystique of a home cooked meal and the appreciation for the effort took. While many of us are creatures of habit – myself included – it doesn’t mean we should be put in the position to make such drastic changes and accept it.

Change is healthy. Change is necessary. So changing your surroundings and interactions on a day to day basis has really shown its importance. It was little variables throughout the day that many of us took for granted, and spent the last half year missing out on it. Understanding and appreciating these day to day variables is becoming more and more evident each day, especially as we stay at a distance from getting any closer to them. We’re dealing with a constantly moving target, and it’s wearing people down.

Since the vast majority have been ‘given’ the ability to work from home, it means that everything else they did on a day-to-day basis followed suit. Cooking, working out, maintaining “social interactions” with their work peers. Some like that, and some like to be a homebody and not interact with people on a day-to-day basis. As a professional homebody myself, I get it! This is change. A dramatic one at that. But once this level of change becomes normal (and it does became normal real quick,) is it good change? How sustainable is it for a healthy headspace?

Coming back to the barbershop and having began interacting with people again was great. It was exciting and to a certain degree, emotional. Why? Because having kept our interactions to a bare minimum, you lose that sense of community; Of primal human interaction. As much as no one would dare admit: We’ve all developed a bit of prejudice when you’re around people. You don’t know who they are, what they’ve done, if they’re sick, etc etc. (This is not to be misconstrued as an “is it real” argument. Save that for your own social media accounts!) Common courtesy was thrown out the window. Common decency was met with distasteful looks. Far and few were acting as —simply put— a good person. Something as simple as passing an acquaintance on the street and greeting them is met with short, uninterested notions of existence. The weird times we’re in has made people even weirder, and not in a good way. This isn’t the part of the emotional spectrum I’d want to sustain on a day to day basis. Due to the circumstances we’re in, it’s an unfortunate constant. Working ourselves out of such levels of negativity is difficult on our own.

“Faster alone, further together.”

I started to notice how important it was to maintain interaction with people. I mean, previously I was working six days a week. I’ve had PLENTY of human interaction on a day to day basis. While it was draining, I enjoyed it. It’s a part of my job to enjoy interacting with people. As introverted as I inherently am, I realized how much I enjoy interaction. I mean, having gone to VLV at the peak of my blogging “career,” all I cared about was meeting people, developing rapport and relationships with them, and having a great time. Granted… those interactions were fueled by PBR and whiskey… BUT STILL… Those interactions were very important for me getting comfortable enough to consider barbering. And eight or so years later, I’d say it was impactful.

As the days I go by and I start interacting with more and more people, I couldn’t help but notice that some maintained a bit of normalcy by hanging out with friends (whether it be socially distanced or not.) But for the rest, I couldn’t help but see something… How draining it has been for them to maintain social interactions through a screen, and not have any real interaction with a person IN PERSON… There was definitely some social ineptitude developed over the lack of exposure to other human interactions. Granted, I don’t know how they are outside of the shop, but I can’t imagine the interactions being all too different outside of it. Overtime these socially inept individuals become more comfortable in the barbershop. Passing by they point out to whomever it is they’re accompanied by that this is their barbershop. They’re proud to point it out and start to build their own community by referring coworkers and friends to the shop. They unknowingly encompass a part of their lives around it. Whether it’s parting ways with someone before their haircut, or meeting someone after their haircut to get dinner and drinks, the barbershop became a pivoting point in their day. For something to be a pivoting point in my day, it has to be important.

But, does that answer the question: Are Barbershops Essential?

A bit more time goes by and people start coming to get back to the shop to regain some level of normalcy, I realized how much the barbershop is an essential business to the community it services. Not because of my own bias of wanting to work throughout this entire time, but for other people in my chair. For the community we service, to the individuals that heard about us on social media and wanted the experience while they were in town, or the individuals that travel from all over to be a part of our shop. We are absolutely an essential business. But why? Is it because of the way we cut hair? The adornments on the wall? The prices charged or the products sold? What is it? What makes the barbershop essential?

What I’ve deemed the barbershop’s most qualifying trait of being considered an “essential business” is what we offer to the individuals that sit in our chair. Haircut and product aside, we offer whatever it is they need. They need someone to confide in? Someone to shoot-the-shit with? Some time to decompress from work for however long, in order to reset their mindset and get back to it? Whatever it is they need, we offer it. We offer escapism. And escapism from all the non-sense going on all around us is definitely essential to the well being of the people coming to the barbershop.

What was just a simple T.V. trope has gotten it’s own show on HBO by Lebron James. Showcasing one aspect the barbershop has to offer besides haircuts: dialogue. I mean, if a barbershop was solely about getting a haircut, would there have been a show made about it? Absolutely not.

With us finally being able to open up our doors, patrons are now able to get that bit of time away from the confine of the walls of their homes that now has become work. To get a bit of quiet away from their families. To see someone that’s not on a screen but physically in front of them and have an actual conversation filled with agreements and disagreements. In one place we can offer so much that was lost throughout this year. After interacting with so many people, they too come to realize how important the visit to the barbershop really was to them. Whether it’s every week, or every five. They’ve realized how important it is to them to decompress from home/work. Not just decompress during their commute, but how important it was for them to decompress in the barbershop. The patron knows that whatever it is they have to say stays in the confines of the chair. To get away from the same conversation at home/work and actually create dialogue with someone? Does anyone know how much emotional relief that is? It’s incomparable to any other business out there.

Unfortunately, there aren’t a lot of shops that have built their business around rapport and community. And unfortunately, I get it. Certain business models are impossible to get out of. (This is a topic for another day!) But this shouldn’t deem the industry as a whole as “non-essential.” If people can now have alcohol delivered and get alcoholic drinks to go and drink them in public, they should be able to go to the barbershop for that small portion of the day to get a more viable and sustainable source of escapism. Even if the shop may not as invested in the patrons as ours is, it doesn’t mean the patrons don’t rely on them for a quick conversation to clear their headspace.

The true testament to my sentiment —that barbershops should be looked at as essential businesses— is the fact that barbershops have been the epicenter of the communities they service since the very beginning. It is one of the oldest trades around the world, and there’s more than enough reasons why. Regardless of style of shop it is, barbershops will always be around and the community it’s propagated will stand by and proclaim how their local barbershop is essential to them.