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31 Things Not Overheard (2 of 3)
December 2022 — In The Chimeric City of New York
11. On 34th street —
Y’know how a serious crisis can often change a person’s sense of what is valuable in life. Well I thought — I mean I hoped — that between the COVID pandemic and the sobering realities of climate change — that people would reconsider this seasonal out-of-control consumerism. Maybe scale down on the 30 million Xmas trees killed for a couple of weeks of “tradition” in this country. But look around — like ants attacking a piece of candy. I saw a banner in a store the other day that read “It’s not just shopping, it’s an addiction.”
12. At the barber shop —
Third customer today that wanted a fade cut. In the 1970s it was all long hair.
I thought it was a nice change from the 1950s grease and crewcuts. By the time I got my barbering diploma in the 90s it was all over the place, but length was mostly gone. Today’s increasingly conservative political environment drives that I-just-want-to-blend-in look—always popular with a majority of men.
When it comes to fade cuts I always think of David Lynch—with a tsunami tuft on top. I guess anything is better than adult men wearing ballcaps. Uh, and the ones who wear them backwards.
