Bring on the Night

Saturday morning C was moaning about the flexibility of barbershops here in Denmark.

I understand her woes. I china she used to walk into the nearest barbershop and get a haircut right away. That’s rarely the case in Denmark. Here you make an appointment in advance. 1 day before, would probably not be enough.

Later Saturday she was getting her hair done at 10.00am. The appointment was arranged at least 5 days earlier. I knew for sure she wouldn’t be satisfied with the haircut, because she never has been here in Denmark. In China I’ve seen her walk into random barbershops and never complained. Here in Denmark she even has to bring a picture sometimes, but it’s never good enough.

I have to agree that the Chinese shops seems to have more skill when cutting C’s hair, but I think there’s more to it than just difference in expertise between Denmark and China.

I still haven’t found out exactly what goes wrong, but I have circled a few ideas:

• Asian hair is normally stronger than the average Dane and requires different hairstyle/techniques to make it “fall” the right way. Maybe Danish barbers really don’t have enough experience with Asian hair?
• C is not clear enough about what she wants (or maybe she lacks the detail in Danish to make herself understood).
• C has always been cut by women here, whereas in China it’s normally men. So a woman automatically can’t go right?
• C has just been unlucky the last 5 years?
• C is hard to please? Forget it, it was never written. *Jedi mind trick wave*

And no – still not sure what goes wrong.

I even took C to a shop known for being one of Aalborg’s better barbers. No luck.

About the flexibility of Danish vs. Chinese barbershops, I tried reasoning with C and I argued that it’s due to wages and expenses of the employees and owners here. Also I find it not that big a deal, because I’m used to that way, and planning everything is normal here. In most regards it makes things flow easier, but of course also makes things rigid. In China there’s loads of people working for low wages for long hours, so it’s easy always to have someone free to take pop-by costumers. You just walk right in and get a haircut.

I told C that the Danish way would be the case in China too in the future. When people started getting better off, few would work longer hours with low wages, and thus service would decline. C just looked at me as if I was a lunatic and kept moaning about having to make appointments.

I’m not quite sure who of us is wrong. Her for expecting more for less, or me for settling with what we know.

If you wonder, C weren’t satisfied with the haircut. She weren’t complaining though, but when I asked her directly she said: It’s alright, but not good.

Tags: barbershop, china vs denmark