September 29, 2024: My Regular Haircut （いつもの散髪）

(Note: I had written this article before I was hospitalized.)

The other day, I went to my favourite barber shop. It was one of my regular visits every two months. Before I went, I was expecting my hair to be cut by the younger of the two barbers in the shop. It was because he had cut my hair for at least two years. But it was not this time. I did not know why, but the older barber, the shop owner, had cut it. I was surprised, and happy, with it. He, who has the same age as me, knows about what happened and is happening to my town very well. So, I had a lot of things to talk with him. First, I began to talk about fishing, his hobby. He likes to go fishing in the seas around Chiba. But he does not seem to go there as often as he used to. The older he has got, the more tired he seems to have been getting of going there. Instead, he now seems to enjoy living with his lovely pet, a dog. He loves it so much that he keeps it in his his house all the time. And no matter whether he is at home or not, he leaves the air conditioning on all the time to keep the dog comfortable. He also goes back home every lunchtime to feed the dog. As a result, he seems to spend a lot of money on the pet and cannot afford to go fishing. In particular, he seems to have paid a lot of his electric bill this summer, which was so large an amount that he had never paid before. But he loves it that much and he does not meant to stop leaving the air conditioning on.
We also chatted about other things a lot, which amused me very much. And he finished cutting my hair in about an hour. When I looked at my hair in the mirror, I found how stylish it was. His haircut was much better than the younger one's. It was also a surprise to my wife. She found what a good skill he had. She told me to continue to have my hair cut by the owner. But I have no courage to do so. I am still on good terms with the younger one and cannot disregard him.

　先日、行きつけの散髪屋に行きました。二ヶ月に一度の恒例行事です。行く前は、2人いるうちの若い人が切ってくれるものと思っていました。そう思ったのは、少なくともこの2年間、ずっと彼が髪を切ってくれていたからです。でも、今回は違いました。理由はわかりませんが、年配の店主が切ってくれました。びっくりすると同時に嬉しかったです。同じ年の店主は、この町のことをよく知っているので、話したいことが山のようにありました。まず、彼の趣味の釣りの話から始めました。店主は、釣りが好きで、いつも千葉近海に出かけていました。でも、最近は、以前ほど頻繁には行っていないようです。年をとって、行くのが億劫になったようです。その代わり、今はかわいい犬との生活を楽しんでいるようです。犬が大好きで、常に家の中で飼っているようです。そして、自分が家にいようがいまいが、犬が快適に過ごせるように、家のエアコンを一日中つけっぱなしにしているそうです。また、昼休みには毎回、自転車で家に戻って犬に食事を与えているそうです。そのおかげで、ペットにお金をかけすぎて、釣りに行く余裕がないようです。特に、この夏の電気代は今まで払ったことのないほど高額だったようです。でも、それほど犬が可愛くて、エアコンをつけっぱなしにするのをやめるつもりはないようです。
　その後も、他のことをたくさんおしゃべりし、楽しかったです。そして、1時間ほどで散髪を終えました。鏡で自分の髪を見ると、とてもおしゃれになっていました。若い人のカットよりずっと上手でした。妻も驚き、これからは、「店主に切ってもらえば」という始末です。でも、ボクにはその勇気はありません。若い人とも仲がいいので、無視するわけにはいきません。