Tom and I love our nomadic lifestyle – most of the time.  One time that I don’t love it is when it is time to get haircuts.  For 20 years Kenetha Bowser cut my hair and did a great job.  I loved my hair short and layered.  But that style is difficult to replicate if you are cutting my hair for the first and only time.  So I decided to grow my hair out to one length with bangs.  I thought this would be easier for hair stylists to replicate.  Apparently I was wrong.

Tom and I decided to get our haircuts at Great Clips whenever possible.  We have been able to find a Great Clips within an hour’s drive everyplace except Death Valley and Grand Portage.  Great Clips is a national chain, and – supposedly – they keep computer records of how we like our haircuts that any Great Clips salon can access.  Only most of them can’t, so we have gotten good at describing what we want.  Tom’s is easy.  He tells them to cut it with #2 on the side and almost long enough to part on the top.  He usually gets a good cut quickly.

Mine seems to be much more difficult.  Here is what I have learned to tell them.  “I like it all one length, although angling up in the front.  If you undercut it, then it curls under naturally.  I like the bangs short and I brush them to the side.”  Now, this seems about as simple as the directions Tom gives, but my haircuts have been much more hit or miss.  Usually it turns out okay.  Sometimes I have to do a little trimming, especially to my bangs.  Here is a picture of a cut I got at the Lewis Center Great Clips.  I show this to every stylist hoping they can replicate it.

Yesterday’s haircut reached a new low.  The woman didn’t seem to understand the term “undercut” or “one length.”  She tried to layer my hair several times and I corrected her before she could cut it.  She either had a hearing problem or couldn’t understand my Ohio accent.  When I finally got out of the chair, the hair on one side was at least an inch shorter than the hair on the other side.  My hair stuck out at angles I’ve never seen before.  It looked like someone took a chainsaw to the one side.  Here are two pictures so you can see the problems.

This morning I washed my hair and trimmed the longer side so it was closer to the length of the shorter side.  I will live with this for a while and then trim it again when it grows out a little.

Haircuts can be frustrating.  I got spoiled at having someone as good as Kenetha for so many years.  But having my hair cut by a different person every time is the price that I pay for living life on the road.