Ryder and Granpan

Although I can’t put an exact date on it, this happened within the last 4 or 5 months. Granpan Paul (Caitlin’s dad) came for a visit out to Chicago. Grandpan Paul (spelled as such intentionally, due to the particulars of how Ryder developed his grandfatherly-moniker) loves to explore the neighborhood on foot when he’s in town. He’s fond of Harvest Time and a few other local businesses. On a sortie to Harvest Time, GP must have passed a barbershop that sparked his interest. Although his hair wasn’t particularly in need of professional attention, the fire had begun to burn. I think that the extreme value represented by a unisex, primarily Spanish-speaking barbershop on Chicago’s north side served to incite Granpan Paul to action like psychic chum-in-the-water.

A few hours later, GP enlisted my help to find and secure some pictures of the haircut he was seeking click for info. Certainly, a defensible argument can be made that if you care enough to show someone a picture of the haircut you want, first concern yourself with making sure that you speak the same language as the scissor-operator. I suppose that in the absence of a common language, a picture downloaded from the Internet and printed is the next best, or really only other, tool at one’s disposal. The idea of a flat-top had taken root in Granpan Paul’s mind, and after a not-so-exhaustive search for representative images to take with him, he settled on this:

Just Like This, Please.

Armed with this, he got exactly what he wanted.

A few months later, Grandpan was scheduled for a return visit to Chicago. Before the visit, he emailed Caitlin to ask if he could take Ryder with him to the same barbershop while he was here.

We decided against it.