Haircuts

These times have made us appreciate many things we used to take for granted, such as haircuts.
Almost every conversation my spouse or I had with relatives this week, be they by phone or text, seemed to include a discussion about haircuts.

In my part of New York State, beauty parlors and barber shops have been open for almost three weeks, yet we have not scheduled our first hair cut yet.  In New York City, it's not yet possible.

My cousin in Queens, a part of New York City, was able to get a haircut and coloring because her beautician lives across the border of New York City in Nassau County ("Long Island").  They are further along in their reopening.  But her husband's barber is in the City, so he stays uncut for now.

My spouse's cousin lives in Westchester County (just north of New York City), which is in the same phase as Long Island, and you can get a haircut there.  So she has her first haircut scheduled for Thursday.

My cousin in Harrisburg, PA is going to visit his barber when his county moves into the "green" (Pennsylvania uses a red, yellow, green light system, rather than New York's four phases) on June 19.

I haven't tried to call my hair stylist yet.  I don't know if she is going to resume her business but I was also concerned about stories of hair stylists exposing customers to the virus.  I wanted a little time to pass before I made my appointment.  I've gone to her for years - many, many years.

I'm hoping that the three month shutdown didn't mean the end of her business.

So many people have suffered over the last three months. And if we had gone back to, say, November of last year and then moved forward in time, would we have begun to imagine what we would find?

Now, we can (if we haven't already) look forward to our first haircut.  As we marked our childrens' first haircuts, will we also mark our first pandemic haircuts in some way?

 Many already have said farewell to their quarantine hairstyles.  Have you?