Mark Smalley

Antalya, Tues 4 Oct

Visit to the barber today. While sipping tea and waiting for him to deal with the chap before me I look up a few phrases so as to engage in a little conversation.
I start with "haircut", which didn't seem to come of a surprise to him. Then it's how I want it done. I show him a double-sided photo with both a front and back view. This usually does the trick and gets a smile when I turn it around to show the back.
During the operation a couple of topics come up. What's my name? Children? I tell him how old they are and he queries my age. "52? I thought 45." Guess he's fishing for a big tip. He shows me an ID card showing that he's 20 years my junior but he looks more like 40 to me. Could be a forgery. I ask how long he's been a barber. Started off in a barbers shop at 12, he tells me.
What kind of work am I in? This ends up as "little computer boss".
I recognise Good, Turkish and Talk in something he says; probably "It would be good if you stop talking Turkish".
The job takes 45 mins, finishing off with the traditional scorching of hairs in the ears with some burning cotton wool on a stick. After which I'm requested to sit down and drink a small glass of tea, presumably in order to recover from the experience, just like a blood transfusion.
I take a look at the front page of the newspaper and query one of the headlines. The first one is clear enough: about Turkey starting EU talks. The second one is more puzzling: "Mad Turk". Apparently it's about "Crazy John", a succesfull Turk in telecommunications in Australia.
The haircut costs 3 ytl or 2 euros; I give him 4. For the comparison (not that we buy any), a glass of orange juice at our hotel costs 6 ytl. This is my cheapest Turkish haircut yet, the most expensive being a tourist-priced 10 ytl 2 years ago. He didn't get a tip.
Returning to the beach I realise that he said that he thought that I was 35. Must go back again sometime.

posted by Mark Smalley @ 7:53 PM