Barber's Shop next to a French Restaurant
As I opened the door with the sign of 'Him' - the wind chimes ringed and alarmed the barber that a customer has arrived. It was a neat and clean premise with a subtle European feel to it. A man dressed in white chef like dress greeted me and offered the chair. As I sat down, he quickly tied a white string of napkin around my neck and then the cover (or whatever they call it). While he was analyzing the length of my hair, I asked him if he takes Debit or Credit cards. He politely said, 'only cash sir', adding that Credit Card machines are expensive for his small business. I have almost lost the touch with Cash money since I have arrived in Canada, almost everywhere you can use plastic money. I excused myself due to the lack of Cash and took his directions on where the nearest ATM was. It was down the road at the port place mall, he said he will be open till 4 and I am more than welcome to visit again.
Erwin, the barber, had an accent which I almost thought with most certainty, belonged to Russia. At one point I was almost certain that his name will be Andre or Ivan. However, to my surprise, he was born in Canada and raised in north America, Mexico and Australia. He had the most interesting stories to tell. His father migrated from Austria during world war II. Erwin told me that his father saved many Jews during that time. His father also wrote a book about that period which was quite a tome as per his hand suggestion, nobody published that, probably because most of it was naked truth. His parent's ran a business of antiques on the very border of U.S.A and Mexico. When his mother was about to give birth to Erwin, his father had her fly to Canada. After his birth, they were both back in U.S. Erwin lost his mother when he was only 2 year's old in a Car accident. While he started snipping my hair off my head slowly, he told me that he has been a chef for most of his life and he also did plumbing for good 6 years. I was petrified all of a sudden as my immediate thought was : is my neck under the scissor of a jack of all trades? He told me that he has lived most of his life in California and also how he despised the money mongering drive of that place. When he was a few years old, his father visited Mexico after the death of his mother - there he encountered a nice lady who instantly fell in love with his father and Erwin. They got married and Erwin spent 15 years of his childhood in Mexico - his father and foster mother still live there. Erwin himself pointed out that most people get boggled by the sound of his accent, but he said that his accent is a mix of all the accents he heard during his lifetime with a base tone of Spanish. So, his accent is from nowhere or from everywhere.
After getting fed up with the competitive life of California, Erwin came to Canada - fell in love with Vancouver Island and especially with Nanaimo. He stayed at Dorchester hotel for a week and then applied for a job in Wendy's. While he was working as a chef at Wendy's, he got another job with a Call center. Everything was going fine, until his boss promoted someone else to the post which was promised to Erwin. He left the call center job and started looking for another engagement. Meanwhile, during the call center job, he found a perfect lady for himself and got married. Till now, I was getting an idea that this man is a multipurpose tool or an all-rounder to be precise. He exceeded my expectations when he told me that as VIU is the only college in Canada which has a hairdressing course, he enrolled in it because he felt that a barber's job is honest and balanced. He did his course from there and then opened this barber's shop in downtown (I was relieved as now I knew that my head is in a trained and certified hand). I couldn't believe how somebody can make a transition from being a plumber to a chef to a call center rep to finally being a barber. There is no relation and no logical sequence in this chain of professions, yet somehow he was good in each one of them if not prodigious. Life can be so random sometime - and I thought that I am the only weird guy who made a transition from being a musician to being an MBA. In fact, the chain of my profession have a link - management - as a band we always lacked of a good manager and while studying MBA I learned so many things which I could have applied into our profession.
Recently Erwin's wife met with an accident and in the process they lost their only Car, wife was safe. Now Erwin is teaching his wife - how to ride a bus, how to understand the bus schedule - and if he can make it - his wife might use the insurance money to go to a cruise instead of buying another car - which he never drives anyways - he takes a bus.
I got a decent haircut, paid him $15.00 and promised him that I will be back for another haircut and some more stories.
Sometimes, a simple small talk by a barber takes the shape of a panoramic view of a life time of experiences which gives us knowledge about finding balance - following your true calling - and accepting life as a random turn of events in which you can play your role by giving your best to it instead of competing it for worldly possessions.
Cheers everybody....will come back with some more.
Thanks for reading.
Adios!
As I opened the door with the sign of 'Him' - the wind chimes ringed and alarmed the barber that a customer has arrived. It was a neat and clean premise with a subtle European feel to it. A man dressed in white chef like dress greeted me and offered the chair. As I sat down, he quickly tied a white string of napkin around my neck and then the cover (or whatever they call it). While he was analyzing the length of my hair, I asked him if he takes Debit or Credit cards. He politely said, 'only cash sir', adding that Credit Card machines are expensive for his small business. I have almost lost the touch with Cash money since I have arrived in Canada, almost everywhere you can use plastic money. I excused myself due to the lack of Cash and took his directions on where the nearest ATM was. It was down the road at the port place mall, he said he will be open till 4 and I am more than welcome to visit again.
Erwin, the barber, had an accent which I almost thought with most certainty, belonged to Russia. At one point I was almost certain that his name will be Andre or Ivan. However, to my surprise, he was born in Canada and raised in north America, Mexico and Australia. He had the most interesting stories to tell. His father migrated from Austria during world war II. Erwin told me that his father saved many Jews during that time. His father also wrote a book about that period which was quite a tome as per his hand suggestion, nobody published that, probably because most of it was naked truth. His parent's ran a business of antiques on the very border of U.S.A and Mexico. When his mother was about to give birth to Erwin, his father had her fly to Canada. After his birth, they were both back in U.S. Erwin lost his mother when he was only 2 year's old in a Car accident. While he started snipping my hair off my head slowly, he told me that he has been a chef for most of his life and he also did plumbing for good 6 years. I was petrified all of a sudden as my immediate thought was : is my neck under the scissor of a jack of all trades? He told me that he has lived most of his life in California and also how he despised the money mongering drive of that place. When he was a few years old, his father visited Mexico after the death of his mother - there he encountered a nice lady who instantly fell in love with his father and Erwin. They got married and Erwin spent 15 years of his childhood in Mexico - his father and foster mother still live there. Erwin himself pointed out that most people get boggled by the sound of his accent, but he said that his accent is a mix of all the accents he heard during his lifetime with a base tone of Spanish. So, his accent is from nowhere or from everywhere.
After getting fed up with the competitive life of California, Erwin came to Canada - fell in love with Vancouver Island and especially with Nanaimo. He stayed at Dorchester hotel for a week and then applied for a job in Wendy's. While he was working as a chef at Wendy's, he got another job with a Call center. Everything was going fine, until his boss promoted someone else to the post which was promised to Erwin. He left the call center job and started looking for another engagement. Meanwhile, during the call center job, he found a perfect lady for himself and got married. Till now, I was getting an idea that this man is a multipurpose tool or an all-rounder to be precise. He exceeded my expectations when he told me that as VIU is the only college in Canada which has a hairdressing course, he enrolled in it because he felt that a barber's job is honest and balanced. He did his course from there and then opened this barber's shop in downtown (I was relieved as now I knew that my head is in a trained and certified hand). I couldn't believe how somebody can make a transition from being a plumber to a chef to a call center rep to finally being a barber. There is no relation and no logical sequence in this chain of professions, yet somehow he was good in each one of them if not prodigious. Life can be so random sometime - and I thought that I am the only weird guy who made a transition from being a musician to being an MBA. In fact, the chain of my profession have a link - management - as a band we always lacked of a good manager and while studying MBA I learned so many things which I could have applied into our profession.
Recently Erwin's wife met with an accident and in the process they lost their only Car, wife was safe. Now Erwin is teaching his wife - how to ride a bus, how to understand the bus schedule - and if he can make it - his wife might use the insurance money to go to a cruise instead of buying another car - which he never drives anyways - he takes a bus.
I got a decent haircut, paid him $15.00 and promised him that I will be back for another haircut and some more stories.
Sometimes, a simple small talk by a barber takes the shape of a panoramic view of a life time of experiences which gives us knowledge about finding balance - following your true calling - and accepting life as a random turn of events in which you can play your role by giving your best to it instead of competing it for worldly possessions.
Cheers everybody....will come back with some more.
Thanks for reading.
Adios!
