'Cause My Long Hair Just Can't Cover Up My Redneck

I got my first haircut from a guy in Mt. Pleasant name Joe Ben Jagger. It's where my dad and grand dad got their hair cut, so it only was right that I got it there. I don't remember it. I do remember subsequent haircuts there in MP when I was young. The barbershop was next door to the "Stop-n-Shop" where Pa-Pa would get his Days Work and buy me a soda water and a Push-up. He'd get me some Double Bubble to chew later. Sometime in the 70's they tore it down (or it fell in, I can't remember) and they moved a few blocks south. The Chevrolet dealer is now at the old site of the barber and convenience store was.

Joe Ben was an old fashion barber. One with a stripped pole out front. Those are the only ones I ever trusted. I remember the feel of warm shaving cream on my neck and around the ears, followed by straight razor shave. Never thought twice about it.

When I got a little older and we moved to the big city, I went to Tom the Barber. He was a little more uptown. He had a stripped pole, but unlike Joe Ben and his brother (it was a two chair shop if I remember right) Tom had a waiting room out front. I think we had appointments of some sort and then we'd go in the back for the haircut. There were around 6 or 8 barber chairs, a black shoe shine man and can you believe it a "lady barber." As mom would say, "whoeverheardofsuch." Tom always cut my hair.

When I was in High School and college my Aunt Jana always cut my hair. She always wanted me to wear it longer, but an semi-mullet was the closest I got to long hair. I never could stand it over my ears. She could get it knocked out in a hurry, and I always liked the way she did it. I never thought of all the money she saved me over those years. I could never repay her. She was a beauty operator in Dallas after she graduated HS, when my uncle was in the Navy. I always thought of her as my rich aunt. She had an MG Midget, that I absolutely loved to ride in with her. When my uncle got out of the Navy, they moved back to MP and she had her own shop there called the Village Beauty Shop. Man was it a popular place. She was perfect for that job because she's a person people love to talk to. She was a therapist for many of her customers over the years.

I wandered from place to place when I lived in Dallas. Never found a barber I liked in the three years I was there. I couldn't believe what it cost. I couldn't describe what I wanted. I had never had to. I was lost. It was impersonal. Take a number. That sums it up.

When I moved back here, it took a few years, but I found Cliff the Barber. Turns out I played football with his son Dean. Dean's now a football coach up around Sulphur Springs. Cliff has a two chair shop where he cuts with his wife, Becky. I'll save the Cliff stories for another post.