Saturday, February 9, 2013

The Haircut


In the month before my Father’s passing, he was very interested in getting a haircut, but not so interested in mustering the strength and courage that it would take to endure the journey to the barber and being stuck in the chair.  I thought we could solve this problem du jour by inviting a barber to come to the house and give him a haircut.   I asked my hair stylist, Alison Alexander Heyes if she could recommend someone and she promptly volunteered herself.   I have known Alison almost 10 years now and have discussed many personal and family transitions of  big and small import but in that time, she never asked me this question: “What did your father do?”   Until today.

As we know, this question was no small thing to men of my father’s generation.  Their identity was often completely tied to their occupation.  My Dad’s career journey was impressive I think because he created all of his own luck, with enthusiastic pushes from behind from my mom.

He tells the story of working as a mechanic for Dueck on Broadway and musing about taking his natural skills to the sales floor in the used car department.  Co-workers did not encourage this sort of breaking ranks, but Dad had done some diesel yacht repair favors for the vice president and he told my mother that when his suit was missing from the closet, then he had gone to ask for an interview.

Long story, shorter, he made that jump and was extremely successful at sales during a time when car dealerships were very high profile in Vancouver and everybody needed a car.  We are talking the 50’s and everyone was ‘movin’ up’.  Dad had no way of predicting, and felt that most of his family was surprised, when he retired as vice president of Duecks in his 60’s.  His departure was abrupt.  He took offence to someone’s joke about him becoming ‘long in the tooth’ and that was it.  Out the door.   Quite in character.  I can see it in my mind but was totally unaware of the drama at the time, already distracted by my own career in the 80’s.

The picture below shows the typical over the top design of the dealerships of the day.  In that stretch of Broadway, there were other big contenders with Bow Mac and  Lawson Oates  among them and right across the street from Dueck.

Back to the haircut.  Pete’s last haircut never happened, I am sorry to say,  and one of my last memories will be brushing his hair on the night we said goodbye.  Around Christmas time his good days and Alison’s schedule just never came together.  He died with his long white locks.

Today, in the chair at the hair salon getting my own hair cut, I discover that Alison is the daughter of John Lawson Oates from the dealership across the road.  He married the receptionist from Dueck on Broadway, Louise Eperson.   We are the children of that
crazy competitive time.  What a conversation his haircut would have produced!  

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