A curious feature of urban neighborhoods is the men’s barbershop. Now, I grew up in an environment where the ‘shop was a cultural touchstone. The men in my life all went to the shop and I was dragged along to get my hair right as well. I heard so many conversations about sports, and culture, and politics, etc. Today was the first time taking my kid to the shop and stepping into that adult role and being part of the conversations the kids hear and eventually learn to emulate.
We talked sports. Basically, that’s all we talked. We went from sport to sport to player to player etc, having banter about who we liked and disliked and why and it was a really good and fun conversation with total strangers. It felt like we were all looking for both common ground and points of conflict to playfully jab each other about, and in the social landscape, I think that is what men do in general. I had a good time being part of the conversation–especially once I decided to boldly wade in. The boy watched and enjoyed listening throughout. He wasn’t ready to make his own commentary.
I need to do more of this. It’s what Dad’s are supposed to do.