Brian Holden: Barber shop more like a social club

Graham Geater Hairdressers are a regular Rotorua experience. Photo / Brian Holden

Speak to any barber - if you can find one - and they'll tell you that their profession is anything but a daily routine. They always welcome a good chat with whoever happens to be in their chair, and maybe even get a chance to solve a few of the world's problems in the process.

Even though barber shops have been around for centuries, they seem novel today, where you can just walk in off the street to be groomed and pampered for 15 minutes or so.

Men and boys sit patiently on the bench seat reading newspapers, sports magazines or nowadays tapping their smartphones, waiting for their turn to get a haircut or a beard trim.

Men come to have a break from their routine, socialise and meet like-minded people. It's kind of like a drop-in social club rather than an ordinary hairdresser's salon. Indeed, barbers create a special social connectivity with their clients.

The guys at Graham Geater Hairdressers take pride in their work and between the team of three, they have 123 years of experience cutting hair.

Graham, an old school mate of mine, has been cutting hair virtually from the day he left school, starting his 4 year apprenticeship at Shalfoon's barber shop in Hinemoa Street, Rotorua. After spending many years working from his business in Fenton St, he moved to Amohau St where he's been with his business partner Kerry Iles for the past 30 years. Kerry completed his apprenticeship in Wellington where he worked just a stone's throw from the Beehive. He was the barber of choice to many heads of state and many politicians of the time such as Sirs Bill Rowling, Keith Holyoake and Rob Muldoon.

Kerry recalls Mr Muldoon's rigid schedule of turning up for his haircut on the first of every month at 9am sharp. Graham and Kerry have completed 53 years each in the profession.

Whetu "The Great One" Brown with 17 years at the chair, joined the team two and a half years ago, and from what I see, all three get on extraordinarily well.

"Well we don't really have much choice," asserts Kerry, smiling as he gesticulates to the three chairs side by side. Indeed, there are many aspects about being a barber that makes them want to stay by their chair for most of their working lives.

It is a fact that those in the profession of hairdressing and barbering do stick to their jobs more than anyone in the workforce. Take for example Joe Davis, 93, who is believed to be the oldest working barber in Arizona with more than 70 years on the job. He still opens up his shop each morning and cuts hair two days a week. This love for the art of barbering means that the man on the street - or the Beehive - can benefit from the experience of traditional quality barbering. A bit of quick mental arithmetic reveals I have sat in either Graham or Kerry's chair at the mercy of their scissors roughly 250 times since my early adulthood. So it goes without saying that over time you get to know your barber pretty well, like when he asks you as he tosses the cape around your neck, "The usual trim?"

If you want a good chat, whether it be about the cricket - aargh, the cricket - or where the world is heading, there's no place quite like your local barber shop. And if catching up on a bit of gossip is your thing, you just might be lucky enough to score a little of that as well. The good news is you always walk out the door feeling much the better for the experience - and with a jolly fine haircut.

A week from now, the And Another Thing team will be on the other side of the world. We will be in France for a couple of weeks, then in Britain for quite a few more. During our time away we will keep you informed about what we've been up to.