City City Bang Bang - Weekend Pay Cut
Triggered by the abnormally high rent i am currently paying here, i had gone into an auto-save mode, saving a penny where there wasn't any. While i had not drastically cut down on my food, my friends swore that they could count my 200+ bones without the help of an x-ray, when i last met them two weeks ago. While the taunting had not stopped there, it had successfully made its way to the long hair that i had fashioned.
Paying 15$ for a cut was something i'd do anything to postpone; and postpone i did, trying hard to make my long hair look like a fashion statement, except that it looked more like wild grass painted black.
After the disaster with the group photo last week, which i had enthusiastically shown it to many friends, and quite a few of them replying back asking me whether i was in the photo, i decided it was time for a haircut.
Walking down the road, 15$ clutched in my hands, i entered the saloon.
Barber : "Hello Sir, please have a seat"
hmmm...I surely will if you let me take it with me, for the money i am losing !
after a 5 minute wait, the barber was ready.
Barber : "Please sir....ready for you now" (directing me to the chair)
Gingerly i sat on the chair, calculating how much i'd end up losing, and hoping the stock exchange would sky rocket and the rupee would strengthen, so that i'd end up losing a bit lesser. After a mental calculation i arrived at 650 Rs. I guess that's the total amount i would have paid for a lifetime of haircut in India, and it didnt seem like this barber would be using golden scissors to cut nor like he would throw a buffet lunch after the haircut, in my honour.
Barber : "What would you like to have sir"
He sounded like those hotel waiters in bangalore who would usually come and ask
"Idli vade, dosey, uppit.... ivathina thinDgi ge....yen beku ?"
I thought it was an offer for beverage or snacks; brightening my eyes and planning to eat like a raven, i turned back to look at him...
Barber( a bit taken-aback) : "...what kind of haircut, sir ?"
Rats !!...i had no idea what kind of cuts they give here. since the time i started going alone to the barber's shop as a kid, i've been telling him the only word i knew in cutting "short". Before that my cousin who used to take me to the barber, used to mention "tennis ball cut" to the barber....well it didn't help my facial features but it sure made the barber's job easy.
Me : "Short" ..i answered abruptly, as though he would charge me for talking too.
Barber : "and then ?"
Me : "hmm...that'll all i know" ...thinking that the barber was tricking me into asking a hair-style that would make me shell out another 10$.
Barber : "Ok, short it is..."
meanwhile, i saw a few photos, hung on the wall, of models with different hairstyles. while i didn't want it to look like i asked for a specific cut, lest he bill me for that, i decided to take my chance
Me : "What are the choices that i have ?"... I love USA for that, there is a choice for anything under the sun.
Barber : "Well, there isn't any choice with your hair, Sir, it'll all stick up anyway, but i'll do my best"
oh yeah, threw it on my face didn't he !
After 15 minutes of torture, i was finally freed from his clutches, when i accidentally saw the rates for a haircut...the board said "12$".. much as i could not believe my eyes, i was happy to find that this barber wasn't that greedy after all.
Barber: "Your bill is 15$ sir"....and started typing it into the machine, when i interrupted him
Me : " Is it including the tip ?"
... i had heard that we need to tip people here in addition to the amount paid for the haircut, and 3$ for a tip was absurd...one greedy barber this one...
Barber: "It'll be 16$ then sir, thankyou"
Me: "!!!....hmmm...but the board says 12$ for a haircut !"
looking a bit amused, the barber turned to me and said :
"You have come in a bit too early for that discount sir, it's for senior citizens above 62 years of age"
Me : blushing...handing him the 16$...
I jetted out of the shop, promising myself to not make a moron out of myself the next time around.
Penny wise, Pound really foolish...
Paying 15$ for a cut was something i'd do anything to postpone; and postpone i did, trying hard to make my long hair look like a fashion statement, except that it looked more like wild grass painted black.
After the disaster with the group photo last week, which i had enthusiastically shown it to many friends, and quite a few of them replying back asking me whether i was in the photo, i decided it was time for a haircut.
Walking down the road, 15$ clutched in my hands, i entered the saloon.
Barber : "Hello Sir, please have a seat"
hmmm...I surely will if you let me take it with me, for the money i am losing !
after a 5 minute wait, the barber was ready.
Barber : "Please sir....ready for you now" (directing me to the chair)
Gingerly i sat on the chair, calculating how much i'd end up losing, and hoping the stock exchange would sky rocket and the rupee would strengthen, so that i'd end up losing a bit lesser. After a mental calculation i arrived at 650 Rs. I guess that's the total amount i would have paid for a lifetime of haircut in India, and it didnt seem like this barber would be using golden scissors to cut nor like he would throw a buffet lunch after the haircut, in my honour.
Barber : "What would you like to have sir"
He sounded like those hotel waiters in bangalore who would usually come and ask
"Idli vade, dosey, uppit.... ivathina thinDgi ge....yen beku ?"
I thought it was an offer for beverage or snacks; brightening my eyes and planning to eat like a raven, i turned back to look at him...
Barber( a bit taken-aback) : "...what kind of haircut, sir ?"
Rats !!...i had no idea what kind of cuts they give here. since the time i started going alone to the barber's shop as a kid, i've been telling him the only word i knew in cutting "short". Before that my cousin who used to take me to the barber, used to mention "tennis ball cut" to the barber....well it didn't help my facial features but it sure made the barber's job easy.
Me : "Short" ..i answered abruptly, as though he would charge me for talking too.
Barber : "and then ?"
Me : "hmm...that'll all i know" ...thinking that the barber was tricking me into asking a hair-style that would make me shell out another 10$.
Barber : "Ok, short it is..."
meanwhile, i saw a few photos, hung on the wall, of models with different hairstyles. while i didn't want it to look like i asked for a specific cut, lest he bill me for that, i decided to take my chance
Me : "What are the choices that i have ?"... I love USA for that, there is a choice for anything under the sun.
Barber : "Well, there isn't any choice with your hair, Sir, it'll all stick up anyway, but i'll do my best"
oh yeah, threw it on my face didn't he !
After 15 minutes of torture, i was finally freed from his clutches, when i accidentally saw the rates for a haircut...the board said "12$".. much as i could not believe my eyes, i was happy to find that this barber wasn't that greedy after all.
Barber: "Your bill is 15$ sir"....and started typing it into the machine, when i interrupted him
Me : " Is it including the tip ?"
... i had heard that we need to tip people here in addition to the amount paid for the haircut, and 3$ for a tip was absurd...one greedy barber this one...
Barber: "It'll be 16$ then sir, thankyou"
Me: "!!!....hmmm...but the board says 12$ for a haircut !"
looking a bit amused, the barber turned to me and said :
"You have come in a bit too early for that discount sir, it's for senior citizens above 62 years of age"
Me : blushing...handing him the 16$...
I jetted out of the shop, promising myself to not make a moron out of myself the next time around.
Penny wise, Pound really foolish...
posted by Jagadish at 2:13 PM
12 Comments:
Yeno juggi maama, yaaru innu comment maadilla nin post bagge:-)
..nodo..sumne nan thara stylish aagi uddha belskondiddre ishtella problem irthitha??
--boda.
Jaggi...
Lucky you :), I pay 40 CHF every month to get my hair cut here, that would mean a min of 1400 Rs per month, so you are saving loads dear :). Please drop in Switzerland to get your hair cut some time :p. You know what some places here they don't use comb while cutting the hair, they mostly measure with there fingers, It is also a marathon task as it goes upto almost an hour or lil more :D
Regards,
Chandra.
boda: :)..ohohooho, nin hairstyle olley kaadnalli baylee beldhange ithu...hogolo :D
comments maadidarallo !
chandu: people go to switzerland for a holiday :)...you are lucky you are working there instead...so it's a small prize you are paying ;)..
juggi... ishtella maadodru badlu dudde ulsbahudittallo !! buahuhaaa...
ahah... bodandu hair-"style" antha!! hair idre style maadbahudu... bodan tale mele irodu olle ulsoor lake swaps thara...
hmm... comment maado antha idakke heliddu neenu... chappar juggi...
hehehe, hoon boda thale snana maadudmelu olle bull fight inda just horag bandiro haag ithu :D
ayyo cutting maadour yaaru siglilla, illandidre adannu ulstha idde ;)
Hey juggy long time!! Hahaha!! How long are you there for anyway? If it's a short stint I guess that was your first n last haircut there! :) That's one more reason (numerous others being elaborated if necessary, later) why being a woman's cool! we can just wear our hair long and be done with it :) Not too bad a hair-do to sport either ;)
Was this the first haircut in US? I can't believe it. You have been there now for 3 months. I have heard barbers are usually ladies. Don't know whether you went to GREAT CLIPS. But enjoyed your blog. Maja banthu. And for heaven's sake, don't be a miser otherwise you will end up in misery....
Hi Deepa
yeah long time since the previous post..i usually write during weekends, and the last 2 weekends went in travelling and catching up with friends :D...posts on that are on their way ;)...
I was supposed to come back by november, but my stay's got extended to december..so hopefully i'll be back by then, and yeah i will not need another haircut if that works out :D
Grrr...yeah girls are lucky that way :(...they get tax benefits too :(.. hehee, i'd rather not try long hair for some more time, or the next thing i know a stone will hurtle past me for no apparent reason :D
anonymous: thanks :).. yeah this was my first haircut in US :D...i had cut it really short when i came here 3 months ago, so much so that the hairs on my head needed sometime to recuperate before growing back :D.
No the barber i went to was a man..anyway, it wouldnt have mattered much, since i wouldn't have got a discount either way :D..
i am not a miser man ! i only spend less :D....
ooooooohahahahaha
WELCOME TO THE 'HAIRCUT WRITER'S CLUB'.....
thejas: :)...i thought i'd get away with it, but it finally caught up with me ;)
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