It was right after the first month of lockdown when that familiar irritation of hair tickling at my ears had gently whispered that it was time to have a haircut. I had envied my neighbor and kumpare then who had proudly sported a freshly-trimmed do, courtesy of the barber along the main road. However, when I hinted at it, my mate had advised against doing the same foolish thing, vulnerable senior that I was. Remember, social distancing and quarantine had both been very hot topics during that first month, and enforcement had equally been at fever pitch.
A couple of weeks later, it had been her turn to persistently coax us, as our locks had noticeably become longer, until we finally agreed to let her cut our hair. I even remember writing about it then in an earlier article; and hailing her new-found improv skills (and courage on our part at being scalped) as our acceptance of the new normal being ushered in by necessity.
And then it was zip quiet for a few weeks. Suffice to say, there had been no more blips in the family radar for a while after that.
True, while the features of the new setup may have been a bit forced in the beginning for our family, the three of us had adjusted smoothly and quite well too. For one, we had maximized on almost anything online: from bills payment to shopping, with practically ninety percent of groceries coming from the latter, that include occasional treats from Ronald and chow king.
Then, as sure as grass grows, it was again time to cut hair. At this instance, the three of us had by then unanimously agreed that the mere comb and scissors tandem should already be upgraded and that it should be “professionalized” a bit.
So, we decided that, at least for the matey and myself, our new talent of cutting hair should not only be supported with online tips (on how to trim) but should also be augmented with the necessarily-improved hardware. In other words, after a thorough canvassing and review of the prices of available clippers or “makinilya”, we thus ordered online and got ourselves a professional electric shaver! Tada!
In the end, that might as well just be the start of it for us folkies. Work from home, stay at home, and survive. I am pretty sure everyone at this time, may have also adapted to the lockdown in their own positive ways.
While our coping methods may appear to be as trivial as cutting hair, and therefore unimportant because others see them through much longer locks, the concept of adapting to changes is still the same. It may not particularly be life important and a matter of survival, as that of others’, but still that concept holds true: we will make do, no matter what, and force ourselves to bend with the wind, to keep from breaking, so to speak. Hopefully, we will get through 2020 more adapted and wiser.
