With the Cricket Season over, I haven’t a friendly Groundsman around to cut my hair for me through the winter months. In Summer, it’s a quick stroll up to the Lawn Mower Shed and either Simon or someone else has an electric Hair Shaver.

Above – nearly 50 years of degeneration !

I had to go down town today and looking in the Bathroom Mirror beforehand said a story, well quite a few stories really.

It seems my hair is still growing quite well, that’s to say in about one tenth the area of my head, the rest is either non growth or a few furry bits where hair once was in abundance. Whatever, at least it’s the same colour all over, a rather nice shade of silver I’d call it.

After deciding I was not going in for any Max Wall impersonation contests and I had to go down town anyway, the obvious thing to do was to have a haircut. I don’t like having my haircut, never have, so the consolation is that it’s only three times a year nowadays anyway.

I arrived at the Hairdressers only to be awakened to the fact it was Half Term week and the first port of call was filled to the brim with very young people with huge amounts of hair and what seemed like huge amounts of bad manners, so I went to the next one, then the next etc. untill I’d done the full circuit. More good news was that by the time I got back to the original one, there was only one other person in the queue.

“Good morning Sir, please take a seat”. This was it, the point of no return. “How would you like your hair Sir”? “Thick I replied” but it seemed to go right over his head. “I’ll have a Number 3 all over please”.
I always have that now; it gives every hair an equal start and why faff around with something which will look right for two weeks.

It was then a bit like the old days, “Are you working today Sir”, “Going anywhere nice this week Sir” etc. etc. It’s then the age thing hits you even more. Time was when you had your hair cut, the Barber could get in about 76 questions, nowadays, by the time he’s gone over my head with a No. 2, it’s down to about six !

It’s all over, approx. three minutes I reckon, “That’ll be £7.50 please”. I can’t complain, the price of a haircut is based on appearance and not on time.
A thought went through my mind; start an over 60’s only Barbers Shop, charge a fiver and on a good day you could earn £60 an hour!.

So the end result is me sitting here writing this and wearing my Beany Hat. If I don’t, my head will freeze and what little of anything which is left in it will be gone with the wind. I had a haircut last year in January and didn’t take the beany off, even in bed, for over a week in fear of illness not disimilar to that on Everest Camp 6.

But there are some good things about being over 60, I can think of at least two; 1. the sympathetic look from young ladies and 2. a Bus Pass.

One things for certain, we can’t go back, so we may as well accept it and have a laugh about it !