The only place that I could find that was open was the Spartan Barber Shop on South 4th Street. There were six construction workers lounged around out front, accompanied by a Roto-Rooter truck, a bunch of orange cones, and an "Open Trench" sign.
Inside, the shop was totally empty, pretty old, and kind of lacking in charm. The only good signs were the Penthouse magazines and a few sad cans of Palmolive shaving cream, each with "$2.50" written on them in black Sharpie pen.
The gentleman who (presumably) owned and ran the store was probably in his late 50s. He was kind of friendly, but when he got down to business, I started to worry. His hands were pretty shaky. Worse yet, it was pretty clear that the clippers weren't in good shape. More than a few times, they pulled hairs instead of cutting them - it was not a pleasant experience. However, it was, I suppose, an authentic one. It only cost $11, but it made me long for the days of the $25 haircuts at Nimbus in The City. I miss Margaret.
Here's a picture of the damage done:
http://www.marmot.net/images/cpratt_oct24.jpg
This is from the front. I did the beard myself - it's much shorter than it was last weekend. I like not having problems with maple syrup or soup, but it's kind of weird seeing myself with so little fur on my face.
http://www.marmot.net/images/cpratt_back_oct24.jpg
And that is (obviously) from the back. It's a very barber shop looking block - it'd be more clear but I needed a finger on the mouse to grab the image from the USB camera.
After seeing the pictures, it's not as bad as I imagined it was when I left the shop, but I still don't think I'll be going back there. It was too depressing.
