extracted from straits times forum.
Brother, you ask me to shave, I give you a shave
I went to a barber shop at Tiong Bahru Plaza for my hair cut on
Tuesday.
The barber didn't ask me what hair style I wanted, so I said:
''Sorry sir, but can you shorten my hair and just flatten the sides
slightly. As for the fringe sir, can you leave it at the same
length and just layer it? Thanks.''
He heard me but I saw no reason why he sulked and gave me a cold
stare. Before I knew it, he drove the shaver high up on one side of
my head. I was stunned.
Only a thin layer of hair was left on the side of my face. On
seeing this, I asked him politely, ''Sir, sorry but do you have to
shave off so much? I said I want to flatten it slightly.''
The barber replied like a gangster. Tapping me rudely with the back
of his hand on my shoulder, he shot back: ''Brother, there is no
such thing as shave half flat. You ask me to shave, I give you a
shave.'' With that, he smirked and continued to shave the other
side of my hair. I knew it was too late to stop him, so I just sat
there silently and stared into the mirror. As I heard the shaver
near my ear, I felt rather ticklish and shivered a little.
The barber pushed my head down, tapped me and said sarcastically:
''Brother, stop moving. Do you know how difficult it is to cut if
you move? A little scared?''
The other barbers laughed at me. I felt so humiliated. I couldn't
control myself and felt like crying. I just looked down sadly and
let him finish the haircut. Unexpectedly, the ticklish feeling came
again and I shivered once more.
This time the barber said loudly: ''Brother, talking to you is like
talking to a pile of rubbish, you know. Cannot get it one.'' Then
he mumbled something like ''So stupid'', if I didn't hear him
wrongly.
I was fuming. The other barbers just laughed their heads off.
When the barber worked on my fringe, he just trimmed it a little
bit and said, ''There, you wanted me to leave it alone, so I don't
touch lor.'
He did that on purpose. I had told him to leave it at the same
length, but layer it. He didn't care and said his job was done.
Unhappy at the incomplete job, I told him to cut my fringe. It
didn't match the ugly sides because the barber had just ''styled''
it for me.
Tapping me rudely, harder this time, he said coolly: ''Brother,
next time you want to cut, let others think for you. See, you don't
trust me, I cannot help you. Your hair is cut already. I also
cannot do anything about it.''
He didn't want to help me with my ugly haircut now. I said: ''Sir,
can you just end the hair cut here? I don't want to trim it any
further.''
I don't know why he suddenly changed his mind. He said: ''Since you
want to change, okay I'll do for you; it's my job, I have to finish
it.'' He picked up the scissors again and snipped away quickly at
my hair and said even more sacarstically, ''There, new Armani
hairstyle!''
The wide grin on his face told me that he did it on purpose. I
could see his colleagues laughing again. When I mentioned that I
needed an acceptable hairstyle for my upcoming O level examination,
he laughed and said: ''Your hair not important; results more
important, you know brother.'' Then he added: ''Why? Scared your
girlfriend don't want you?' He laughed haughtily, tapping on my
shoulder again.
Tolerating his rudeness and giving him some respect as an adult, I
didn't complain much about it. He smirked and demanded $9 from me
for the poor service and hair cut.
After I paid him, he said very rudely: ''If you want a haircut, go
elsewhere lah. We don't need you, this kind of customer. So
fussy.'' He glared at me.
I did not voice my dissatisfaction and yet the barber went
overboard and asked me not to visit his shop again.
I want to tell you readers my story but I'm not trying to defame
the shop. But if anyone can tolerate such poor customer service and
rude behaviour such as 'shoulder tapping', please go ahead and give
it a try.
My advice is, don't risk it. He could leave you in tears.
Lee Jian Hao
