How far would you go for a good haircut?

Five miles? Ten miles? Three hundred miles?

What is it about a good haircut that brings us back to the same hair stylist over and over again? And why am I not brave enough to find someone closer to home?

Here’s the thing: I sit in his chair and say, “What do you think?” We talk about how much needs to be cut off (usually a lot). Then I say, “Make it so.”

I don’t really say, “Make it so.” Not in those words. I tell him that I want to be able to put it up if I need to—that’s my only requirement. Mostly, I give him free reign to do whatever the heck he wants to with my hair.

Would I do that in any other hair stylist’s chair? Yeah, no. I don’t think so.

We have 27+ years of history. He cut my hair and gave me the big ’80s perms when I was in high school (and college). I remember when he got married, had kids, and got divorced.

After I got married, I saw other stylists. A couple of them were those that I could have a seat and get a good hair cut and not pay out the nose. One time, I splurged and paid for an expensive cut. It was a good cut—too short, but good. I couldn’t go back to that guy, even though he was super nice and did a great job, because I hated the idea of paying that much money for a haircut.

Hey, we were poor in the early years of marriage. The idea of paying $75 plus a tip for a cut (no matter how good) made my skin crawl. Truthfully, it still does.

So, now my friends ask me what I’m going to do when I visit my parents, but they don’t let me answer. “Nevermind, you’re going to get your hair cut.” LOL.

It’s true. When I travel 300 miles to visit my parents, my mom makes an appointment for me to get my hair done. I get to hug my friend. He tells me about the things his adult children are doing. I tell him to do with my hair as he will. I trust that he’ll take care of me.

One time, my visit didn’t coincide with his schedule. He trains race horses and had a race on that Saturday afternoon. He came into town early Saturday morning to cut my hair.

Who does that?

I don’t get to see him as often as my hair needs to see him (or as often as my parents would like to see us). But when I do, I sit in that chair and say, “Make it so.”

What about you? Do you have a favorite hair stylist? Would you wait six months or more between cuts (yeah, not really a fair question for most men, I know) to be sure the right person did the job?