I’m a big believer that businesses should always consider their customer’s convenience.
However, I have found an exception to the rule lately during a visit to the barbershop/salon.
As many of you may know, when you enter an establishment like this, you’re normally asked to sit down on the chair where you’ll be given a haircut.
Then a large cloth will be draped over your body so that the hair doesn’t get on your clothes.
Now normally, this cloth would be black, or at least opaque so you can’t see thru it.
But I noticed this one had a circular area, where it was made out of transparent plastic.
I wondered why they had done that.
It took me a while to realize that it was for people who wanted to use their phones while getting a haircut.
And this took me a while because I typically don’t use my phone during a haircut.
So I thought, hey this is convenient. Good job salon!
But about 5 minutes into the haircut, I found myself having to scratch my groin area.
And in normal circumstances, this would have been fine.
Because you’d have a cloth that was covering your body.
However…..
In this particular instance, I found myself looking at the mirror.
And in the mirror, a reflection of my hand in my shorts, mid-scratch.
And I found myself inconvenienced by this supposed convenience.
So in my attempt to be a decent human being, I stopped.
I hoped the person giving the haircut didn’t notice.
Thankfully no more itches happened, and the haircut went by fine.
And I would like to believe I walked out of that store with my bit of decency still intact.
—-
Walking home, however I found myself thinking about this situation.
Should barbershops have two kinds of cloth? One that’s fully opaque, and one that’s transparent?
After all, not everybody uses their phone while getting a haircut, right?
But how could clients pick their cloth preference, without being implicated of any atrocious behavior in a public place?
How would the owner actually train their staff to say, “Hey so we have two kinds of cloth to drape over the clients. We have the traditional one that we used to always use. And we have this new one with a transparent hole so they can still use their phones!”
The employees then reply, “Cool, great service! So let’s use this new one then”.
But the boss says, “Nope. We’ll make them choose which one they prefer.”
“But why?”
“Well some people don’t really use their phones while getting a haircut.”
“Okay, so why can’t we just give them all the new one? We’re not exactly inconveniencing the persons who don’t use their phone, right?”
The boss hesitates.
“Well?”
“Well you see, the people who don’t use their phones during a haircut… Prefer… and there’s no delicate way to say this. Some of them like to scratch themselves privately while getting a haircut”.
—-
And so now I know there cannot be two types of cloth in the barbershop.
Because the moment you pick the one without the transparent hole.
They already know!
The barber would signal silently to their coworkers, “We got a ball scratcher here.”
—-
But the alternative of maintaining the status quo of having fully opaque covers, I’m not really sure I support that either.
Because it would really be a much better experience if all business took pride in providing clients a convenient experience within their shop.
So naturally they’ll want to offer the transparent cloth to show that, ‘Hey we considered your needs! We spent extra money to buy these special covers that have holes in the middle so you can see through your phone’.
Now given the situation, of course the smart thing to do is ask, well who’s the majority?
People who use their phones while on a haircut… OR….
Those would rather do something more freely with their hands?
So now I’m torn.
—-
Should I go back to this barbershop?
Which by the way I like, because I like the haircuts they give me.
And if I do, should I use my phone? Would that prevent the scratching?
Can I use the phone, to shield the view from me scratching myself?
Now I know what you’re thinking…
“J3, go buy some cream!!! Don’t be gross! “
And for your information, I already have.
But there’s just a certain itch, that when it happens you need to scratch.
And to prove that point, I’d like to ask, why are YOU here?
A decent person probably would have scrolled away, 2 paragraphs ago at the mere mention of the word ‘ball scratcher’.
And the reason why you can’t scroll away is because you already got an itch.
An itch to finish this story.
And you just did.
So if you’re reading this in a public place…
Well you and I… we’re not so different after all.