Thanks For The Haircut

I walked into Custom Cuts as a recent college graduate who'd just moved into his first apartment. As a man in the process of asking his parents to help with a down payment for a condominium, I was attracted by the State Farm employee discount and the "every 7th cut is free" policy.

Twenty years later, the discount and policy are long gone (as is the State Farm job). The name of the place has changed (to LookAfter). Yet here I am, perhaps their longest-tenured customer. Sure, the place is no longer on my way home from work. But I stay because those employees are like family to each other, and to me. The work environment is sunny, and several have been there for ten years or more. When I enter or leave I'm greeted by multiple employees, and they all seem to remember what I'm doing in my life and ask about it.

All things are temporary, especially when it's essentially an hourly paid job. While it lasts, I'm going to be extremely grateful for this unusually bright neighborhood.