Turkish barber

God, I hate getting haircuts here in Germany. 

Every time -- without exception -- the barber or hairdresser or whoever cuts my hair all wrong.  Too short on the sides, too long in the front, and the cowlick ignored so that it produces a weird, this-man's-head-has-a-corner effect.  My hair is thick-ish and coarse, but not extraoardinarily so.  Why is this so hard?

Ah, but: last year I was staying overnight in Frankfurt (early morning flight, so I took the train down the night before) and was walking around the bahnhof / cheap hotel / red light district.  I've blogged about this before, yes?  It's an immigrant area, full of dollar stores and kebab places and call-Tunisia-for-five-cents-a-minute phone places.

And barber shops. There are a couple of blocks where every other storefront is a barber shop, all run by Turks and obviously serving an immigrant clientele. On a whim, I stepped into one and asked for a trim.

It.  Was.  Awesome.

• Haircut was cheap: ten euros, or about $14.
• Haircut was fast: less than 15 minutes.
• Barber knew his stuff: hardly any hair down my shirt.
• Barber had NOTHING TO SAY.  No conversation, no commentary, no discussion beyond a few gestures: shorter?  use the razor here? 
• Barber offered only one extra (gel) and, when it was rejected, did not press, or offer cologne or anything else.  A light dusting of powder was included free and without comment.

      and,

• The haircut looked great.  This was no quick-and-dirty buzz cut.  The barber managed to cut my hair short without unleashing the cowlick, which is no small thing.  I looked terrific. 

Why was a cheap Turkish barber able to give me a great haircut when every other barber in Germany charges me twice as much for a cut that makes me look like a complete doofus? 

Here's Claudia's theory:  she thinks that my hair is just too weird for most Germany barbers -- too coarse, too thick, just too alien.

Well... maybe.  By American standards -- even restricting it to white Americans -- my hair is nothing special.  But Germans do tend to have pretty fine hair.  Perhaps.

-- That touches on something I noticed last time I was in Frankfurt.  Frankfurt (or at least, downtown central Frankfurt) has the sort of ethnic diversity common to most large Western cities.  Walk from the Bahnhof to the Opera and you'll see pretty much every major human phenotype.  I had always noticed this, but only on my last visit did I realize that (1) I find this agreeable at some deep level, and (2) I miss it a little.

Anyway.  I can only get my hair cut at the Turkish place when I'm in Frankfurt alone, outbound on a business trip.  Since this only happens once or twice per year, the rest of the time I must make do with German barbers.  So if you see me and I seem to have a corner on my head, that's why.

Comments

[Andrew Lambdin-Abraham]

What are the licensing requirements in Germany like? I know in Texas, in order to be a barber one must pass a written and practical exam. Moreover, it is forbidden by law for anyone who is not a barber to use a razor to shave someone. However, a licensed cosmetologist may trim a beard or mustache.

(I learned a lot about the law I had not known before I started researching this post.)

[ironrailsironweights.wordpress.com]

Heh, the barber shop I go to here in New York is run by Turkish immigrants. It's not all that unusual. With most of the Italian immigrants who traditionally ran barber shops (at least in the Northeastern US) having retired or died off, immigrants from Turkey and from some parts of Eastern Europe have taken their place.

On a more controversial note, many of the long-established beauty salons in black neighborhoods are being put out of business by discount salons run by Dominican immigrants.

Peter

[Doug (not Muir)]

Similar problems in Munich until I found the barbers in the immigrant quarter. I think most of the guys at the place I went to were Arabic, but same principles.

Are Erfurt, Schweinfurt and Fulda all too far to go for a haircut? Also, isn't there still a fair amount of DoD presence in northern Bavaria? Might be an American barber near the military folks.

[maria]

I have never noticed your weird haircut before, but I will pay attention to it from now on (-:
I have also hated German hairdresser but because of all the specialized hair/cosmetology vocabulary I was unable to understand. I have also wait to be on holidays in Spain to cut my hair. But women long hair can wait 6-10 months without problems...

[Noel Maurer]

Three on the top, one on the sides, conservative fade. I've never had trouble with getting that from a European barber.

When you ask for longer, but still short, they get all weird.

Me, I'd try asking for a shorter haircut.

[Gerald]

Now, that gave me a laugh. Especially the part where the barber had nothing to say.

Next time you visit us in Ingolstadt, bring full hair. I shall introduce you to my special hideaway.

[Lace Front Wigs]

Similar problems in Munich until I found the barbers in the immigrant quarter. I think most of the guys at the place I went to were Arabic, but same principles.