We all get bored with our jobs from time to time.
Many of us sometimes wonder what it would be like to switch careers.
Our Amy Erickson gave it a try recently.
She spent the day at Carl's Barber Shop in Old Town, clippers in hand, playing barber for a day.
"so what's the drill? What are we, what am I going to do, I should say? You're going to start cutting hair."
My teacher, barber Donnie Sparkman, doesn't ease me into things.
Nope. My first customer is 7-year-old Jackson.
"So what do you want me to do to it? What are you looking for? Really short. Ok. Do I get a tutorial with these things? No, they just handed them to me in school.I don't want to hurt him! No, Jackson, don't be scared, honey! I won't hurt you, I promise."
Once I got the hang of the clippers, I was feeling pretty good about the cut...until I got to the ears.
Donnie steps in to help.
"This way you won't nip him. Pull the ear down."
It takes a while, but finally, I'm done.
"I think that's a pretty good haircut."
Just when I start feeling pretty good about my skills, who sits down in my chair but Master Sergeant Ryan O'Connor.
"You give me a marine?"
"Oh, he's smiling, so that's good! I promise I'll be gentle. Oh, it's ok."
Donnie gives me a primer on using *these* clippers, which, I'm told, can do some damage.
Uh-oh.
"This is very, very sharp. You don't want to push it real hard up against the head."
"You're used to pain, right, cause you're a marine? Yes. Ok, good."
I'm doing ok until the scissors come out. That part gets a little tricky.
"Pick it up, then see the line difference? (cuts hair)"
And the minute I think I'm done...
"Oh, no. This poor man does not deserve this. (Donnie) You've been in combat, this is nothing!"
"Just go straight down with medium pressure. Don't you have one of those pink plastic ones? I can use those! (Donnie) Don't make a sawing motion. Take it and go straight down with it."
"Nice! That was perfect!"
Once my hands stopped shaking, I actually did ok.
Even the marine himself says so.
"What do you think? Good. Would you let her do it again? Sure."
And just to intimidate me further...my last customer of the day is the rather imposing Scott Mitchell.
"He's getting a flat top."
"and his head's crooked, so it makes it even worse."
This one was tougher.
One wrong swipe with the clippers and this guy will be looking ridiculous.
"You wanna make it flat, make it flat..."
And I couldn't call myself a barber until I tried to get my customer to open up to me.
"Do you have any problems you need to talk about to me now that you're in the chair? No. You sure?"
No luck. But he walked away happy with his flat-top.
"So, I had 3 customers. How did I do? Excellent. A little tentative, a little shaky, but you got the hang of it."
"So do you think I should keep my day job or could I go to barber school? Keep your day job."
Amy survived her day with the scissors, but now it's time for another career change.
Do you have a career change idea for Amy? Let us know here.
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