I Deserve My Hazard Duty Pay

Since I’ve been gone, Lindsay has been extremely occupied with the two girls and any free time that she has, she takes advantage of it. Whether that be going to the gym, working on some project, or just plain ol’ relaxing – she’s gotta have her own time. That said, there hasn’t been much time for her to update the blog.

My days are pretty occupied as well, but I get a spot open here and there throughout the week, so I decided I’ll update the blog when I can. Interesting thing happened to me today, so that is why I decided to do this.

Being a male military member, my hair will stay within standards for about two weeks. Anything after that, it starts to get a bit in the gray area. Speaking of gray, I know when my hair needs to be cut as the grey hairs near my temple are apparent. BACK ON TOPIC. I was due for a haircut today, so I went to a non-AAFES Iraqi barber shop that I passed and thought to give it try. Really, if they mess up, it can be fixed in two weeks so no worries.

One thing I like is that these Iraqi barbers actually take the time to do a good job when cutting your hair. In the states, those barbers on base spend about 4 minutes total. I’m lucky if they take the time to brush off the hair from my face. These guys spend 15 minutes minimum. It’s not that they are working with Fabio’s hair by any means. These are standard military haircuts. However, they don’t miss the straggler hairs; they use scissors and not just the buzzer, and focus on making that minimal amount of hair actually look good.

So, once my barber finished up and held the mirror up behind me for my approval, he asked, “Do you have time?” This caught me a bit off-guard, “Excuse me?” I asked back. He repeated again, “Do you have time?” Not quite sure what he was getting at, I said, “A little. Why?” He said, “OK.” Then he laid the chair back as if I were going to get my hair rinsed. He then put a towel behind my head and started putting some gel or something on my face! At first I thought he was going to give me a shave. I had shaved that morning and my facial hair doesn’t grow that fast, nor that thick, so I was a bit confused. When he started smearing this stuff over my forehead, eyes, and nose as well, I knew I could throw getting a shave out the window. He then left me. Apparently, I was just given a facial mask. Hmmm. Awkward. Very awkward indeed.

So there I was, lying back in the barber chair, still with my haircut apron on, with a white mask on my face. It had some menthol or something in it that had the same effects of Icy Hot. I knew that some other military guys came in there, and so I immediately felt very uncomfortable and stupid. I would be pissed if I came in to get a haircut, then some schmoe gets a facial and I have to wait. After a bit, I was able to open my eyes a bit and I saw that the other two guys had on facials as well. Geez, what kind of place is this? I’m not Metro! Last time I had a mask was with Lindsay about 6 years ago and that was in the confines of my home and we were just goofing around.

I heard the guy walking back to me after a few minutes (seemed like forever) and I thought I was going to be saved and be let go. However, he then just added a “fruity” exfoliate scrub on top and rubbed that in. Sigh. More insult. Finally, he came back and wiped it all off. My face felt surprisingly good, but my pride definitely felt violated. My first haircut here in country I was asked if I wanted a massage after he was done cutting my hair. “No, I’m fine.” Since I’m not really fond of getting massages from dudes and getting massages from girls will bring a painful and merciless death down upon me from my beautiful and loving wife, I tend to decline anything along the lines of massages. Had I known that I was getting a facial, it definitely would’ve been declined.

When I went to pay, it was still only the $5 for the haircut. Since I normally give these guys a $3 tip, I figured $5 was warranted. He did a good job on the haircut, but now that I gave an above normal tip, I will have to decline future facials if I go back.

Some might think getting a facial is a vacation type service. I politely disagree. I was so uncomfortable and on edge during this ordeal that I know that the Hazard Duty Pay that I receive was well earned today.