A Rather Different World

I went to the group home to visit Lun an hour earlier than usual and entered his room. He was very happy to see me.  When I told him that I came here specifically to cut his hair today, his eyes immediately widened, his arms shrank upward, and his head moved back about an inch, and I burst into laughter.

 

Last Wednesday, a familiar employee with the dormitory told me that on Friday five days ago, the staff took Lun to get a haircut. This was the first time since the group home changed its management. In the past, senior employees who were familiar with Lun’s temperament were in charge. However, the new management implemented a new policy and required residents to go to the barber shop for a haircut. This was a big change for Lun.

 

After he entered the barber shop, he opened every cabinet door and drawer to check what was inside. After a round of fuss, everyone finally succeeded in guiding Lun to sit on the barber chair and cut his hair.  He refused to give in, swinging his body, struggling, resisting and howling throughout the whole process (actually a very short time).

 

The barber only managed to cut off part of the hair on the top of his head. After the staff determined that Lun would not cooperate, they had to follow the care rules. In order to avoid harming Lun, the barber shop employees and property, they immediately asked to stop the service and took Lun away. They sat quietly in the van of the group home for a while to calm down Lun’s emotions, then returned to the group home and planned for another visit.  No wonder Lun had a bald spot on his head last Wednesday.

 

After learning about the situation, I asked the staff if I could give him a haircut in order to keep him looking good. I was approved immediately.

 

I checked my calendar in the afternoon and remembered that I promised to give Lun a haircut. I immediately prepared the accessories, including a comb, scissors, electric hair clippers, hairpins, a white robe and talcum powder. I arrived at the group home one hour before dinner, allowing him enough time to bathe and play in the water after the haircut and regain his composure before having dinner.

 

After being stunned, Lun immediately checked the contents of my backpack. After opening the hairdressing tool box, he first picked up the scissors and wanted to hide them. I asked him to hand them back and told him that I would only use the electric hair clippers and #2 hairpin. After he found out, he stopped arguing. I immediately decided on the easiest haircut, a short army cut.

 

For safety reasons, haircuts were performed in the large bathroom, which is 16 feet by 14 feet, so customers, employees and barber have enough space to move around.  For twenty minutes, Lun’s performance was exactly the same as that Friday. The difference was that there were more people, and they were all accomplices, no outsiders.

 

The female employee first gave him some candies to distract him and comfort him. After he put on his big white robe, I held him tightly with my left hand and pressed his left arm. My right hand held the electric hair clipper that had just been started, and I shoveled it to the hair area where I could get my hands on it.  At first, a female employee tried to grab his right hand, but during the process another female employee heard Lun's incessant howling and came to help, using both hands to steady his head to prevent it from swaying from side to side.  It seemed to be haphazard, but everyone was more determined than Lunlun, and the haircut was even. Finally, he successfully gave him an army haircut, although of course there were flaws.

 

The scene was like prison guards mistreating a prisoner, but the reality was that they were just trying to clean up his appearance.  After it was done, I immediately announced "finished!" and praised him as a handsome boy. He felt relaxed knowing that he was out of danger.  At this time, the bathtub was filled with water, so he went into the bath and splashed around.

 

For nearly ten years, I had not cut Lun’s hair. I am very happy that my treasurable hair cutting skill is preserved.  In order to get Lun used to his father cutting his hair again, I made an agreement with the staff to cut his hair once a month, and I will switch to a lighter battery-powered hair clipper to reduce the risk of wire tangles and power leakage.