Okay, okay, okay. My side of the hair-cut story......



First of all, in case you haven't noticed, I am going bald. So this is a touchy subject for me. Although I will be the first to admit I am going bald, I am a big enough man to admit, I admire another man with a full head of hair. I am not in denial about my going bald, so I like to keep my hair cut very short.....one and a half on the sides faded in to a very short top. Follow the natural (receding) hair line in the front....and its a no maintenance issue. Not picky, just particular.



So on my recent trip to Peru after the Iquitos portion and prior to the Cusco portion I seized the opportunity to get my long over due hair cut, after ordering my drink from Starbucks in the Lima International Airport (Lima is the capital of Peru of which we did most of our flying out of) so I knew it very well (we were there eight times). I sat down in the chair realizing I had approximately twenty minutes prior to boarding the plane. As I was sitting there I started to get a little nervous realizing the time was getting cut short. I also realized the language barrier between the barber and I was becoming a problem. I tried to use sign language and broken Spanish and long loud drawn out words (learned from Pastor Rev. Bishop Leon Frost), none of which seemed to be working. I even drew her a picture for crying out loud! There hair cut was getting worse by the snip, and I would never admit this to my friends, but I was really starting to stress about the time. I was starting to think that this was not only a bad idea, but bad timing.



My new found revelation....in the United States we do things at a much quicker pace. Something that would take literally seven minutes, takes thirty in Peru, if they are in a hurry. So I finally tell the lady, Esta Bien (It's good), Alto (Stop). At about that time a good friend of mine Larry Faulkner (Larren Kaufman) comes around the corner with eye balls the size of Un Nuevo Sol, or one Peruvian dollar (about the size of a silver dollar). He says, "What in the world are you doing man, everyone is freaking out looking for you?" "We have to hurry they are going to be boarding soon." Little did he know we had seventy two hours before the plane would actually leave. My response was, "I'm getting a hair cut." (The worst and longest hair cut of my life). Then I said, "Since we're in a hurry can you grab my coffee from Starbucks?" He laughed and abliged. He then headed back to the angry pack,(Grrrrrrrr, Hisssssssssssssss, Hissssssssssss). I was still tied up.



Two things I must point out: I pride myself in being a communicator, and I totally blew this one. I didn't even tell them where I was. It was unintentional, but extremely inconsiderate. Thus I will eat the humble pie for quite some time to come.



I paid the lady, grabbed my coffee, and put my hat extremely snug to conceal the damage. I looked like a leopard for crying out loud, I mean literally patches were gone! As I rounded the corner Elder Nix (missionary) looked, laughed, and said, "hurry up we have to pay our airport taxes." We checked through security and caught up with the gang, and sat and waited for twenty minutes to board the plane. Glaring stares pierced through my clothes and burned holes in my soul, and I deserved every one of them. I will never forget Bro.Bradfords smirk that read "OOOOh you are gonna get it!" Sis. Bradfords look said "Don't look to me for help!" Pastor was pacing and ready to put me over his knee for making him worry so much.



Later that day when all was well the clan requested to view the all important hair cut. I refused to take off my hat and told them, "It's like poker, you have to pay to see." Truth be told I was embarrassed at the horrible hair cut and not communicating with the clan of where I was.



Once again, I apologize, but it all worked out.



However, My motto is "Live a little", or in my case "Live a whole bunch!"