Clip Joint

I guess one of the signs of an advanced society is its emphasis on youth and the future instead of age and the past. In the US, I have witnessed a transition from the latter to the former in just the last 40 years. Elsewhere, like China or Mexico for instance, there is great respect for one's elders and the past is held with great honor and awe.

And so we have left the era of industrialization and building, and emerged in the era of digitization and global flattening. Youth is in, age is out. Young people have something to add to the conversation, while old people can only tell tales.

Which means I was totally shocked yesterday while out and about with my Dad running errands. As we were entering a supermarket, he stopped to point at a small storefront a few doors down the strip center.

"That's where I get my haircut," he said. "They give free haircuts to World War II vets."

"Really? Free? And what about all the other veterans?"

"Just World War II vets. All others have to pay."

"I suppose you have to tip the lady, don't you?

"Of course. I gave her $5 the other day. A haircut normally costs $9."

In an area populated mostly by retirees, I could see this being a big come-on for business. You could wind up with a long line of old men wanting their free haircut, and never have time to cut other people's hair for money.

But it's actually a carefully calculated risk, because World War II vets are in short supply, currently dying at the rate of about 100 per day. Pretty soon there won't be any left. Dad will be 85 in June, and while statistically the incidence of 80-somethings dying among all deaths is very small, there is a certain 100% factor that we must all face someday.

Like many men in his cohort, Dad spent several years in the military. He was stationed in England, and then later France, where he worked at an army hospital. Every time we visit he regales us with stories and pictures from the war.

While this barber shop may not have to actually pay up on their promotion very often, I think it sends a far greater message to the general public. Tom Brokaw has paid homage to this generation in book form before, but in this small way in a little Florida town, this barber shop is going one better.

It's about revere. Respect. Honor. Here are men who gave abundantly so that we might have a safer world. They returned to the US, built a new America in the 1950s, and shaped the cultural landscape for things to come.

The least we can do is give them a free haircut.

I want my Dad to let me know the next time he needs a haircut. I want to give him $5 so he can tip the lady.

Dr "Skip the Witch Hazel" Gerlich