For a view years I worked already at a hairdresser saloon. It was as usual as at other hairdresser saloons, cutting the same kind of models day after day, changing color, blowing hair dry and every time the same stories all over. It got more and more boring for me, day after day.

In the evenings I started looking the internet to find another job, giving me more excitement, but most ads are from the same kind of hairdresser saloons, not of my interest. I gave almost up but than I saw an ad asking for a female barber working at a navy base not so far from where I lived. I read another time through the ad and wrote down the telephone number to call the other day.

When I called a woman took up the phone what was quit a surprise for me, because I thought at a navy barber only male barbers where working. I explained to the woman that I had read the ad on the internet and that I was interested in the job. The woman asked what I was doing now and I told that I was working at a hairdresser saloon quit boring for me and I like to go for the job as female barber at the navy base making pretty short haircuts.

She made an appointment with me for an interview at the end of the day just after I finished working. After my last customer at the hairdresser saloon, just get some little hair snapped of, I start driving to the barbershop at the navy base. After ten minutes I entered the entry port of the navy base and report to the guard tell him that I had an interview at the barbershop with Mrs. vanderbilt the main barber at the shop. The shop was just after the gate and I parked my car in front of it. When I looked through the mirror inside the barbershop I saw a quit classical shop with real old fashioned robust barber chairs, the ones you could pump up entirely to work around somebody’s head. Also the rest of the shop was old fashioned, with hugh mirrors against the wall. When I entered the shop I saw a middle aged woman standing in the middle of the shop. She wear a military uniform, with shirt, tie and skirt covered by a white nylon barber coat. She had pretty short hair, almost like a crewcut, but still she looked very feminine.

She asked me to sit down in one of the barber chairs while she took another one, we turned the chairs to each other and start talking about the work to do. She told me that most people coming in this barber shop where woman because this it is a navy station where female get trained when they entering the navy. Navy regulations make that they have to wear the hair pretty short during training. I say that I like to cut hair short, that what I am doing at the hairdressers saloon really set me up and that I like to stop working there. She smiles to me and say well, that sounds good, but there is something more. In fact is working in this barbershop part of the navy, so in a certain way you have to join the navy meaning you have to wear a uniform and getting your hair in shape. It sound exciting to me and I say here that’s no problem. She smiled at me and says well let’s start then, just call me when you can begin. I could not believe my ears I got the job. I couldn’t hard waiting to tell the hairdresser at the saloon that I should leave!

Finally after working for two more weeks at the hairdressers saloon my first day at new my job had come. Standing before the mirror I combed my long silk black hair to get it in shape, remembering me that the barber at the barber shop had told me that hair also had to fit to navy hair regulations. I wonder what that meant, maybe a short haircut. In fact I should not border about it, because I was more or less finished with the long hair I had now. It cost me so much time to maintain it. In fact I did it for my boyfriend, but he should accept that I got something shorter. We had talked a number of times about it, but he always told me that he like keeping my hair long. Now I had the right argument to get it cut, otherwise no new job.

Driving to the navy base I was wondering what should happen today. The female barber had told me that it was in fact a job where I had to join the navy in a certain way. Again I entered the gate and told the guard that I was the new female barber. He smiled at me and told me that he was already informed about that. I just should fill in a form to get my entry pass and I could go on. The entry pass should be ready at the end of the day. He told me that he could not supply it to me now, because he had to stick a photo of me on the pass. That had to be made when I was in uniform later at the day.

I parked my car again close to the barbershop and start walking to the shop. When I opened the door I saw the female barber having the interview with me again and also another female barber also with a nice short haircut. We introduced us and than the other female barber, name Nicky took over again. She was in charge in this barbershop. She told me that we had to go out for a little walk to get my uniform and come back here again for the rest of the procedure. We had some time in the morning, because customers should come in after lunchtime. This morning a whole new bunch of females had arrived to start to be trained for the navy. So I could enjoy working on hair the whole afternoon, she smiled.

We walked for a while to change my clothes for the uniform. First they took my measures and handing me over the uniform shirt, skirt, tie a tunic and an overcoat. I got dressed and looked in the mirror to my new outfit. Then we walked back, Nicky start telling me what I will do in the afternoon, around 10 women will come to the barbershop to get their hair cut to the navy regulations, that means it will be pretty short on them. But, Nicky smiled, before we start cutting I will cut your hair, because you have to fit into the regulations too. I had not so much time to think about it, because we where already back at the barbershop. Nicky told me to take of my overcoat and tunic and take one of the white nylon barber coats. I stand in front of the mirror when got the barber coat and looked at my self. I liked the whole atmosphere in the barber shop, I liked the classical formal style. Much better then what happened in the hairdressers saloon where I worked before.

Nicky told me to take away my barber coat again and get to be seated in the barber chair. I sat down in the comfortable chair, putting my feet at the rest and looked in the mirror to my long black hair almost touching the end of my back. I took the hair in my hand and swung it over the chair so it was free from my back. Just hanging down to the floor. Nicky took a tissue and wrapped it around my neck, covering the collar of my uniform shirt. Next she took a green satin cape and fitted it around my neck. She turned the tissue down to the cape and pumped the chair up to start cutting my hair.

Nicky spread some water of my hair to get it more straight pick up a pair of scissors and start cutting. Beginning at the left side, she starts cutting just below my jaw, working her way to the back. I could see that she had a lot of routine in cutting. Big chunks of hair where falling in the cape and on the floor, many years of growing where snipped of in minutes. I did it myself at customers in the hairdressers saloon ones in a while, and I felt always sensational when a customer liked it short. I really liked cutting large chunks of hair away and now, somebody did it at me. I must admit that I liked the feeling somebody else in charge of my hair. Especial now I had joined the navy I had no saying about the length of my hair and that set me up. Not much later Nicky was at the other side of my head and my long tresses of hair was reduced to a bob. I was interested of I had to stay at this length or should Nicky go on? Well the answer came very fast, Nicky went on. She took a kind of barber knife and start working at the front of my head snipping away hair, moving again to the left above my ear snipping big chunks of hair away again. My head starts feeling lighter and lighter. Never I had wear my hair short, although I had thought about it many times. She continued at the back, putting my head forward now, taking the hair away. When I looked in the mirror, I saw my left ear exposed, almost no hair covering it anymore. Fresh air was surrounding my ear and neck. I saw Nickys knife in the mirror already appearing at the other side of my head, shortening the hair there too. Nicky kept on working routinely giving me more and more a boys cut. She put the knife away and I looked in the mirror again seeing clumps of hair in the cape and on the floor. All that hair was coming from my own head. It felt already pretty fresh and light.

Nicky smiles at me and say, well we have to continue a bit more. Now your are at the navy, you should look as somebody from the navy! I followed here hands when she walked to the drawer to pick up a pair of clippers. I recognized them as Oyster clippers, the ones where the blades stay cool, because of their special motor construction. I was wondering which blade she was going to use, it looked to me that it had no blade at all, meaning ‘0’. Nicky walked to the left side again, switching on the clipper and starts just before my ear moving up the clipper slowly. I felt the cold iron against my skin go up to the top of the side. She had really no blade attached to it, leaving a white stripe with no hair. She smiled again at me and set, well we going to give you a nice high and tight crewcut today. Such one as you will give to the new arrived females this afternoon. Just watch what I am doing at your head. While she was talking she moved the clipper around my left ear, leaving another stripe of pale skin, with no hair anymore. Then going up again down behind my ear, and up again. I could feeling the cold air around my left ear now. She worked on the left side of the back of my head taking another stripe of hair away, down and up again. In no time she finished the back of my head, no hair up till my crown anymore. I saw the clipper appearing at the right side of my head. Nicky was quit experienced, she move the clipper up and down with high precision. I could see that she was used to the clippers giving people crewcuts, what could I expect else from a navy barber. The clipper turned around my right ear taking away the hair there too. Finally Nicky finished the right side of my head and I could already she the shape of the crewcut now.

Nicky took a number 2 guard from the drawer and attached it to the clipper. She switched it on again and start working on the top of my head to crop it down to a high and tight. Starting at the left she worked from the front to the back, stripe after stripe, leaving short hair standing straight on top of my head. My head felt really light now, after the long trashes of hair where removed. Hair that I had carried all my life till now. I liked the move to my new job more and more, this was quit sensational, getting my own hair cropped first before I could start cutting hair. So different from what I had done!

Nicky was still not ready, she pumped up the chair a little bit more, walked to the drawer to take some lather. She came back, putting the lather around my head. Then takes an old barber knife and start shaving the last stumbles of hair away, scrap after scrap. So now and than, she put the lather with the stumbles on a towel, to clean the knife.

Finally she takes away the cape and tissue and tell me that I am ready to start cutting and shaving heads. She smiles and say, well you look splendid with your new do. I look in the mirror and I am surprised what I see. Nicely shaved sides and the hair on top professional cropped.

My other colleague comes into the shop, look at me and start smiling too. She says welcome to me and congratulate me with my hair. She says your now one of us.

Nicky walks to the back of the shop and comes back again with the white nylon barber coat, she says to me, take you tunic away and put this on. Your ready to start working, the new females will come in soon. You know what to do now, just give them the same cut as I gave you, that’s all you have to do. I was surprised, giving crewcuts to women, that was what I liked to do all my life already.

I did not have much time to think about it. I saw the first three recruits coming in. Two of them had long hair till the middle of their back, the third one had gorgeous thick black hair till her bottoms. She looked pretty well in her uniform, nicely and tight dressed. Her black hair where in a nice contrast with her white shirt and black tie. I did not have to think long about the woman I like to cut her hair short! I walked to the female with the long black hair and said to her, "Please take off your coat and uniform tunic". I swiveled the barber chair while I took her long overcoat and tunic. The woman looked quit nervous, I just smiled to her and told her to relax. She set down in the barber chair and I swiveled back to the original position. The woman looked at me and paid attention to my crewcut, then she looked in the mirror with big eyes. She asked me how I would cut her hair, I just smiled and set we have to shorten it, you are in the navy now, but did not tell her how much. She did not know that she should get the same crewcut as I received this morning.

First I took a tissue and wrapped it around her neck, covering the collar of her shirt and the upper part of her tie. Then I took the large satin cape and wrap it around her neck, closing it tightly around her neck. I pumped the barber chair up to make it possible to work around her head. I planned to cut her hair in three parts, I wetted the hair, combed it out and start snipping it away just above her shoulders. The long black hair start falling on the cape and on the floor. I cut it in a kind of long bob, starting at the right side, working my way to the back, where I left her neck just covered, to end finally on the left side. The woman was still looking with big eyes in the mirror, not saying a word to me. When I finished with her hair on the left side, she gasped as a relieve. Properly she thought that I was finished with her hair, but that was not the case.

I pumped up the chair a bit more and wetted the hair again. Then I start cutting the hair again on the left side taking away big chunks of hair now. The woman’s eyes got even bigger and I heard a lout gasp. I said to here, "that’s the ways its going, welcome to the navy" and smiled to here. "I am pretty sure you gonna like it". But the woman could not say anything, she was just looking in the mirror what happened with here head. I snipped her hair away around her left ear and start working on her back now. Pushed her head to the front, where her chin almost touched the satin cape. Cutting chunks of hair away around her crown and worked my way down to her neck, to expose it. The tissue around her neck was now quit visible. I was quit busy with my haircut not paying attention to the other chairs where Nicky and my other colleague where working, when I looked up I saw that they already ran the clippers over the women’s sides sitting in the barber chairs. I start cutting again on the right side snipping the last long hairs away there, exposing the right ear too. The woman in my chair had a kind of boys cut now, roughly, because it was not necessary to work on the details for her cut now. Therefore I had to use the clippers. In and between I asked her, "and honey do you like the navy", and she said with a low voice, "Eh yeah, are you going to cut it much shorter?", and I react "Yes honey, you get a clean cropped head, like mine". She looked at me and took one of her hand under her cape away and put it before her mouth, she said "Oh no!, that is not true". I said "Yes it is, and you gonna like it, all the fresh air around your head". I walked away from the chair to pick up the clippers from the drawer, coming back, pushing her head firmly forward to get working on the back of her head. When I switched on the clippers it makes I strong humming sound. I put the clippers just above the tissue at her neck and start taking it up to the crown of her head, leaving no hair behind, because I used guard number ‘0’. Then taking the next part right of the clean shaved path made by the previous stroke. I was taking the hair away, stroke after stroke, soon coming to the left side shaving all her hair away around her ear and above it, just leaving hair on the top of her head. Finished there I start working again on her backside now moving leftwards. Again stroke after stroke, I removed the hair with the clippers. She should felt the cold steel of the Oyster clipper against her bare-bone head, taking away the warm feelings from the hair to replace it with cold fresh air. Soon all the hair on the sides and back of her head was taken away, only leaving some work for me on the top of her head.

Nicky was already finished with her customer and looked at me now. She smiled and asked me how I was doing. I said to her "Pretty well".

I put a number ‘2’ guard on my clipper to cut most of the hair away on top of the head of the woman in the barber chair. Making it a nice ‘high and tight’ crewcut. I pushed the clipper right over the middle of her head from the front to the back of her head. Quickly worked my way over her head, shortened the hair left over, stroke after stroke I shortened it with my number ‘2’ guard. Finally I took some lather soaping in the sides and back of the head, sharpened my barbers knife and start taking the last hair away. You could see the shape of the woman’s face now clear, she had a nice round head and I must admin the crewcut suited her very well.
I took the cape away and the tissue. The woman was going with her hand over the clean shaved parts of her head and she start to liked it, anyway she smiled at me and said, "Indeed you are right it feels nice with the fresh air around my head, thank you". She came out of the barber chair and stand in front of me. She looked pretty well with her crewcut in her formal dress navy uniform. I handed over her long overcoat and she put in on again, finally she took her hat covering the bits of hair left on the top of her head. I put the collar of her overcoat against her neck and said goodbye to her. Piles of hair where around the barber chairs taking away loads of long hair, stripping the women’s her down to almost nothing, ready to enter the navy.

We where waiting for the next group, to get the same haircuts.