Lansdowne Barbers

After many years of getting my hair cut by people who didn’t know how to handle my hair type, one of my first haircuts handled by an Asian barber was here at Lansdowne. A recommendation by my cousin prompted me to give this place a shot after many failed adolescent haircuts had me looking like a East LA gangbanger (#1).
My hair was getting extremely shaggy, which would’ve been the perfect camouflage with the predominantly Honger crowd at Lansdowne but would undoubtedly standout when I head over the US-​CAN border again. I was never good at styling my own hair and neither were the many barbers /​stylists who gave me the many false promises my hair would be fine when it was everything but. Then again, neither of them knew Asian hair.
The man behind the barber chair was old school style barber who needed nothing more than a pair of scissors and some spray. There was no need for excessive styling, that’s for salons. This is a barbershop. His barbershop.
He went to town on my hair right away and I gave him free reign as I had no input for an ideal hair style. Some casual chit chat took place as he snipped off the locks of hair, turning my mop of a head into a cleaner, more civilian ready look than I had when I walked in. It was short, appropriate for the summer time, but certainly more than I was used to at the time.
«I tailored your haircut to your personality,» he says to me in Cantonese, «…and you will need to maintain it. You should come back in two weeks.» When I revealed to him I didn’t live in Vancouver, he let out a disappointed sigh and told me to visit often. Another disappointed sigh was let out when my mother came to get me and said out loud, «Wow, your haircut makes you look SO typical and boring.» Thanks Mom.
That was many years ago. Strolling by recently I walked past and noticed he had a few more barbers working with him, understandable price hikes, and a much stronger command of English. He recognized me after all of these years and came to shake my hand.
«Please tell me you live here now!» he exclaimed. «I’m very happy to see you’ve kept up the hairstyle.» I joked and told him I was too typical and boring to let it go. And he laughed. (#2)
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(#1) Hence, I had to smile a lot to get people to not be scared of me.
(#2) And did NOT disagree. I’m totally growing out my hair next time.