"We shall never know all the good that a simple smile can do."
Mother Teresa
Mother Teresa
It’s true when they say that good things in life are always simple. And that’s what I love writing about. Simple things in life. Simple in a sense that we do it every day, every week. You know what I’m talking about, things like having dinner with the whole family, driving to the mamak for your teh tarik session with friends, watching DVDs at home, cooking with your parents. Traditions. If you’d like to call them that.
Being at home for the holidays had given me the privilege of reliving every tradition I had on this sweet Petaling Jaya soil that I so dearly love. I had dinner with my family. And Mamak! (Only God knows how much I’ve missed “my” mamak’s roti canai) All curled up in blankets with the whole family watching DVDs at home. But it wasn’t till today that I actually felt inclined to write something about these so called “traditions” of mine.
Waking up today, I decided to head to the barber shop. As always, I drove to the barber shop that I have been going to since I was 9. I parked and went inside. “Hello, lama tak jumpa!” my indian barber exclaimed excitedly. Owh, if only you know how much I’ve missed you “uncle”.
We chatted for a while, catching up with half a year worth of stories. Half a year. Never have I not cut my hair with uncle longer than that. He excitedly told me about how my 2 brothers kept going to his barber shop and how he always kept asking where I was. I miss you too uncle! Especially your hair-cutting skills! Although all of my siblings go to uncle’s barber shop for haircuts, only I get the special treatments. Only with my barber could you get free tea to go with your haircut. Towards the end of my haircut/chat/tea he’ll finish it off with the perfect neck-cracking skills of a masseuse along with a bit of body massage on my back (I bet you’d love it Faidhi,haha)
And with just that, he made my day. I looked at the mirror. Yup, perfect. Just the way I like it.
I gave him a half-hug, patted him on the back and shrugged of the compliment he gave about me being so big and handsome already. “Ye la uncle, dah 11 tahun potong rambut dkt sini”.
Yeah it’s probably not that big of a deal to other people, but sometimes everyone has a spot soft even for something small in their lives. It might be for a certain book you treasure, a certain place you love, a certain song you cherish or just even, that certain barber you prefer =)
Why we should cherish our traditional barbers.
-Cad
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