July 24, 2005
New haircut and a trip to San Jose
I recently got a haircut. This is noteworthy only because I haven't gotten a haircut since January or whenever it was I last got a haircut. The last time I got a haircut before that was just a few days before I left for Japan.
First off, I generally dislike getting haircuts. Having to sit still for 15 minutes while some person messes around with my hair, tickling my face and such is bad enough. This is compounded with the fact that I will itch like crazy after my haircut is done because there is absolutely no way to stop the bits of hair from getting all up in my shirt and crap. And of course, I'm just lazy.
The arguably larger part of the problem between me and haircuts is that the more I have to tell my barber of what I want, the crappier my haircut will turn out. My last barber was a Korean lady who always cut my hair very well, and I never had to tell her how I wanted it. That alone made it worth a slightly higher price than some Supercuts haircut, a decent tip, and the 20 minute drive to get to her place.
I believe it was Drew Cosner who once said that one of the most defining things about a man is his haircut, and usually with haircuts you get what you pay for. This was after he had just spent a pretty penny on a nice haircut, so it's entirely possible he was just making himself feel better. All the same, nothing makes time pass slower than waiting for a bad haircut to grow out.
Anyhow, I like my new haircut. This is remarkable because this haircut is from an entirely new haircutter person who recently came into town. I walked in, sat down, told him I wanted my hair cut shorter, and voila, he did it. I suppose this guy will become my new, regular barber, and I will start getting regular haircuts once again.
And of course, the point of this whole post is that the barber who cut my hair a year ago is no longer here. I had my hair cut by her right before she closed for the weekend, and on that weekend she was in a fatal car crash. I was the last person whose hair she cut before she passed away.
She left behind two daughters, the youngest of which was 17 at the time. I'd met one of them before, but beyond the haircuts and the conversational banter, I hardly knew anything of my barber's family. I did very much like my barber, and she was quite the nice woman. I wish I could have said something to her daughters about that, but there was no bridge there and two months would have passed by the time I was back home to say anything. In that sense, I feel some sort of guilt, though I don't really know why.
Today I went to San Jose with my father and mother. Along the way we stopped in Walnut Creek to visit an old co-worker and friend of my father. We ended up staying and talking for quite a while. Most of the conversation revolved around me, their daughter (age 16 or so), and the various other children in our generation. Most of the kids of other friends were about my age and in college, or soon to graduate and enter college. Apparently most of the kids they were talking about I had at some point in my younger years met. Generally though, remembering things from before I was four is a bit hard to do, so I didn't recognize any of those kids, nor the daughter and son of my father's friend.
My mother just came back from a high school reunion in China and visiting relatives in Korea. Apparently about a hundred people attended the reunion, though I don't know what portion of the graduating class that represents. I believe my mom has had a class reunion almost every two years for the past..., six years maybe?
It seems that since the last reunion, two of her classmates had passed away. Upon hearing that news, she and her classmates decided that they would continue to have reunions every two years at the least. Closer together would be nicer, but difficult to manage.
My maternal grandfather is just now turning 80. In some sense I'm surprised he has lived this long; he had some medical problems a few years back, and he's getting more and more senile by the year. His wife passed away maybe six years ago or so, and I can't really imagine how that might feel. I really do wish I knew more about my grandparents, but the generational gap is wide enough as is, and the language gap makes it that much harder to learn much about them. I fear I'll never know much of anything regarding the history of my family.
On a final note, I should be graduating next year. My father and his friends suggest that I go immediately into grad school, though I don't see why I would do that. It seems wasteful to go and study even more about a subject I have no real life experience with. The predictability of another few years of school does offer some sense of security though, so I am attracted to the idea. However, another few years of school also seems like just the thing I don't need given that I will be finishing my 21st or so year of schooling (including preschool!) upon graduation of college.
I guess my ideal after-school situation would be to find a job in a large city somewhere in SoCal or even maybe in some other state entirely. I would also not mind working in China, though I don't know the likelihood of me finding a position there right after college. I've yet to consider the logistics of any such event, and striking out in another land entirely seems daunting in many respects; the final slash to the umbilical cord of financial support from my parents. I think my brother ought to be going to college around that time as well, and though I'm sure he'll get a full ride to some school or another, my parents have suggested that depending on how things go, I might need to help him out financially. This seems unlikely, but every contingency must be considered.
Long story short, my future is hazy, and I've hardly considered what I'm going to do after college beyond the simplistic "find a job, find a place to live, make some friends". I'll have to start dealing with my own auto insurance, my own health insurance, various doctors appointments, saving up money for the future, planning my career; the list just goes on. I once asked of an "older brother" of mine from kung fu, a guy has just finished his Ph.D in physics, whether life ever got easier. He replied simply that life never got easier, and in fact it probably just gets harder along the way. The thing is that you become better prepared for everything along the way as well, and so in some sense, the difficulty level of life was relatively constant.
I do suppose though, that I should make it a priority to find a new barber once I arrive at my next destination. I think it would be looked upon poorly to go without a haircut for six months at a new job.
