Hit 1000 haircuts on my barber chair this week and it messed with my head

I've been keeping a tally on the wall for about 2 years now, just little marks with a sharpie behind the mirror. Wednesday I did my 1000th cut on an old guy who wanted a flat top like he had in the 70s. I sat down after and just stared at the marks for like 5 minutes. Didn't expect that number to hit me so hard, made me think about all the different heads and stories that sat in that chair. Anyone else keep count or is that just me being weird?

2 comments

2 Comments

ryanh771mo ago

@anthony_wells that hit me too. My buddy owns a diner and keeps a tally of how many times he's flipped a burger - different kind of count, but same feeling when he hit 50k, he said it felt like he'd lived a hundred lives in his own kitchen.

anthony_wells1mo ago

I just sat down and stared at the marks for like 5 minutes" - man that hit me. I used to think people who tracked stuff like that were just being a little too precious about their work, you know? Like, it's a job, just cut hair and go home. But your post made me think different. 1000 heads is a lot of trust, a lot of sitting down and telling someone your life story while they hold scissors near your ears. Something about seeing it all written out on the wall in sharpie makes it real in a way just feeling busy doesn't. I get why you sat there for 5 minutes. That's not weird, that's actually kind of beautiful.