Overheard a customer telling his kid barbers just 'cut hair' and it got under my skin

I was working on a fade this afternoon and this guy in the chair next to mine tells his son 'anyone can cut hair, it's not hard.' My guy, I've been at this 11 years and I still mess up blending on certain head shapes. I had to bite my tongue because I was mid-taper. Has anyone else had to deal with people acting like this job is simple?

3 comments

3 Comments

martin.riley3d ago

Had a buddy who owns a shop tell me about some guy who walked in, watched him do a skin fade, then said "I could do that in ten minutes." My buddy just pointed at the door.

susan_adams3d ago

Did your buddy happen to mention what kind of clippers the guy was looking at? A friend of mine runs a barbershop over in Oakdale and had a similar thing happen last month. Some young fellow came in, watched him use the trimmers on a neckline, and then bragged he could do the whole cut with his eyes closed. My friend just handed him a comb and said "show me." The kid tried one pass and immediately nicked the practice head. Never saw him again after that, @martin.riley.

max_hernandez273d ago

Yeah that tracks with something I see all the time. People watch someone do a skilled thing and think they can just pick it up because it looks easy. It's like those cooking videos where someone makes a perfect souffle in 60 seconds and suddenly everyone's a chef. @susan_adams your friend handled it right by letting the kid try and fail. Same thing happens with mechanics too. Someone watches a guy change a tire and suddenly they're an expert on transmissions. Skill and confidence aren't the same thing and social media makes people forget that.