In the four years I lived in Madison in the late 1980s, I only let one man cut my hair, Larry the barber.
I have never been fussed about my hair and hated going to fancy hairdressers who would offer you a Chardonnay. I just wanted to come out with hair shorter than it was when I came in. And Larry and the College Barber Shop on Madison’s State Street was the perfect solution for me.
Larry and I would talk and talk. He always remembered how much I paid for my Honda motorcycle and I always knew what kind of a car he was fixing up. Usually I’d come out with hair much shorter than I wanted it as Larry and I would chat away for so long.
It’s been a quarter of a century since my last haircut at the College Barber Shop and I assumed the old shop would now be some fast food outlet but I walked up State Street just a few paces up from Lake Street and was very pleased to see it was still there. I peered into the window to see if I could recognise anyone and sadly I couldn’t. But then I saw a man sitting far in the back who was also staring at me peering into the window. I had to check it out and as I entered he stood with a vague sense of recollection.
A good barber never forgets a head of hair and I’m not sure if Larry remembered me or my hair but he remembered something from 25+ years ago. Things had changed at the College Barber Shop. Larry was no longer in chair 4, but had moved up to the first chair as he had bought out Don, the previous owner and now owned the place. I told Larry I was looking a bit ragged and he offered to give me a cut for old time’s sake for free but we had many miles to go that day and sadly I had to decline his offer but he said he’d take care of Joseph’s hair if Joe attends the UW.
