Eric Scheie has the same attitude toward haircuts as I do:

I'm definitely into minimizing my disutility, especially if it saves time, plus I'm lazy about these things. I end up having my hair cut too short with relatively long intervals between haircuts. Of course, there's a very noticeable contrast between what I look like right after a haircut and what I look like after six weeks without one, but it's a gradual process interrupted only by sudden contrasts in my appearance. I realize politicians need to look the same all the time, but I don't.

It's not just the cost of the haircut. It's the irritation of it, in terms of time out of my life, and having to interact with the haircutters.

I find it's just too much face-time with myself. Twenty minutes of staring at myself in the mirror, thinking "So this is the goofy-looking guy I've grown up to be." Sigh.

If I spend more than one minute on my hair, that is fifty seconds too much. So I get the same haircut that kept me going in the Army, "high and tight". I get the same comments from the "stylist" each time, "Are you sure your wife won't complain?" Yes, I'm sure. I was sure the last 18 times I was in here. Just cut it and let's move on, shall we?

Oh, cry me a river. You want to talk about the hassle of personal grooming? I get my hair cut on the cheap, every two weeks, with a really simple style, and it's still an hour and 90 bucks. And I don't color treat yet but as soon as the grey starts showing up it'll be longer and more expensive. I can't do anything with my nails because I'm a surgeon so I don't have to hassle that, but there's 20 minutes of skin care, morning and night, clothes and shoe shopping... the list goes on.

Hmmph. Men.

> It's not just the cost of the haircut. It's the irritation of it, in terms of time out of my life

What you need is a multitasking barbershop.

I've heard of some barbershops that offer beer and football on large screen TVs. If you're going to go to a sports bar, you might as well get a haircut at the same time.

In the old days, when newspapers were an expensive luxury, the local barber was often a source of news. Perhaps CNN or Foxnews should open a chain of barbershops, with trained news stylists.

Then there's the singing barber -- a form of entertainment that has gone the way of vinyl records. This could be brought back in modern form. Imagine "Haircut Night" at the Metropolitan Opera.

The best multitasking solution is to have your hair cut while you sleep. Of course, having a stranger enter your bedroom with a razor knife and clippers might be a tad creepy. Perhaps a robobarber that trims your hair on a nightly basis?

Another option is to build the robobarber into the bathroom, where it's available for haircutting every time you sit down and there's already a mirror for checking the results. Or if hats make a comeback, a robobarber might be built into each one.

I think I've been going to the same "girl" (the sister of a friend), working in the same caravan, parked in the same place, for about fifteen years now. The price has gone up from about US$6 to US$10 -- and she's gone from about 18 to 33 (don't ask about me...). Unfortunately she had her first baby in January and isn't working right now, so I have to interact with her cowworkers instead :-(

This seems to be a common thing :-)

Jane, believe me, you have my eternal sympathy. I don't have any idea how women put up with this hair nonsense, either in the salon, or in the morning.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WMvt7aye7K8

two hair choices..;.

Robert

I just keep preparing my wife for the inevitable head shaving. I refuse to join the legion of combovers. For now, it is a 'zero' on the sides blended into a 'one', then a finger width trim on top.

But the best haircut I ever had was in a tiny building in Waco, TX. It was a '4 bones' haircut that included a straight razor to clean up the back and sides. You didn't make an appointment, you just showed up early or else forget it.

Every time I get it cut I ask for it shorter and shorter, so I can wait longer before I come back. What style do you want? she twitters. Why not look at some of these magazines, see what Brad Pitt is wearing?

I'd rather eat soap.

This time I said: just imagine I'm a Marine going back to Pendleton. That worked pretty well, only there's still too much on top.

I keep thinking of going bullethead. At least I won't have to wear a cap in the pool when I do my laps.

I use to get the $8 cut but I just started to get tired of never finding a barber that could effectively deal with my tricky cow-lick. I have to go back every 2-3 weeks or live with an annoying tuft of hair sticking out the side of my head that resists all but the stickiest of hair products. I find going to a Tony & Guy or a Regis salon just as cost effective for me because they generally take more time sculpting my hair in such a way as to make my cow-lick work for my style rather then against it. Therefore, I can go longer between cuts and look absolutely dashing. *sparkly toothed grin*

*Useless information begins now*
I recall hearing about a nifty idea for nano-bots involving haircuts.

One would sprinkle tiny little crawlers onto the scalp where they would then hide away. They would get their power from munching on your dead skin cells and could be programmed with a wireless transmitter d3vice. The barber-bots would be able to crawl down the shafts of your hair follicles and they could then chew through the hair at a programmed length to create any given style.

Of course, then you'd have a whole new breed of hackers that could hijack your barber-bots and etch their hacker handle into the back of your head. Or, the bots could suddenly become sentient beings, burrow down into your brain, and force you to watch "The Jeffersons" reruns till the end of days.

After trying for a number of years to get a barber shop haircutter to give me a haircut that would look good on me for more than fifteen minutes, I gave up. My routine has been to shave it during the summer, and just leave it alone over the winter.

This year I'm trying to see how long I can hold out against the Hotlanta summer with a full head of hair.

I do the whole infrequent haircut, but I cut my own hair. It really isn't hard to do.

I cur my hair high and tight with a set of clippers in front of the bathroom mirror. It is less hassle than going to a barbershop, and I figure that over the past 9 or 10 years that I have been doing it I have saved myself something between $600 to $1,000 dollars in haircuts that I didn't have to pay for.

A good set of Wahl clippers shouldn't cost more than $30 or $40 bucks.

I know I need a haircut when after taking a shower, I feel the need to brush a few hairs to the side. Procrastination typically sits in, and the haircut comes a week later. Depending on the season, I usually get a 3 top 1 side, or 2 top 0 side. I try to keep hair a little longer during the holidays for pictures.

I agree about the simple annoyance of going and taking the time. I also feel a little shame in writing that, while thinking of Jane. Because all thought taking the time is annoying, it usually takes 30 minutes from the time I leave my house to the I walk back in my house. I do go to a barber and pay what was $7 and now $12. I gladly pay $15 to keep the time short and the questions few.

Best haircut: Lubbock, TX... after a high and tight followed up with a close shave with a straight blade, the voluptuous brunett then proceeds to give you a neck and shoulder massage. Cost for all of it: $10. If you can't tell by the price, it was, from all appearances, a regular barber shop.

You know Jane, with all due respect...shave your head. :)

Aw, I can't shave my head.. my hair is arguably my nicest feature - it's red and it draws its share of attention. But I am always amused listening to men gripe about the hassle of keeping themselves together. Welcome to my world.

Couple more years with my kiddos and I won't have to worry about it anymore. I sport a french hairdo...it's in full retreat.

Mac, you really shouldn't write things like that when a girl has a mouthful of coffee.

I love Josh Reiter's hairbots.

Hacking the hairbots suggests room for a very funny sci-fi short story, a genre which exists but is woefully sparse.

(the hairbots comment was me)

Jane said: Mac, you really shouldn't write things like that when a girl has a mouthful of coffee.

Sigh, I'm sorry. NOT! :)

> I find it's just too much face-time with myself. Twenty minutes of staring at myself in the mirror, thinking "So this is the goofy-looking guy I've grown up to be."

I'm actually blind without my glasses (-7.5 prescription), so for me it's 20 minutes of staring at a formless blob.

Since we are on the topic of hair, I might as well put in my 2c worth.

The hair that really matters is the hair on your back which correlates strongly with IQ.

I've been consoling myself with this now well established fact, ever since my hair has started thinning.

As is well known Jews have more back hair than almost anyone else and they are likewise smarter.

For outliers such as East Asians and similar smoothies, one should look at "relative back hair", the proportion of back hair to the ethnic norm. This rule works in general as well. Sometimes a single back hair is all you need to set one apart.

Next time you are hiring someone, don't forget to ask.

Robot hair barbers didn't work so well for Jimmy Neutron...