Ode to Jim Veal

I was spoiled for several years because Jim Veal was "my barber".  He cut a lot of other people's hair, too, but you know how it is....we get personally possessive of people like doctors, dentists and barbers.

Jim was a second generation barber; his dad, Otis Veal, ran the Sacajawea Barber Shop in La Grande for many years, which is where I got my haircuts during the halcyon days of high school.  I'm convinced there is a good hair cutting gene; Otis and Jim both had it.

Jim had cut hair at a major hotel in Portland for several years before he moved back to La Grande.  His full-time job was working for the Oregon State Lottery but he cut hair on the side for a few "friends".  I was lucky enough to be among the few.  Jim didn't really give you a haircut; it was more like he sculptured your hair until there wasn't a single hair sticking out anywhere.  He could probably have done just as good a job in about twenty, maybe thirty minutes.  But Jim loved to talk.  And that was great --except, for some reason, he seemed unable to use the clippers and talk at the same time. The result was usually over an hour in his chair, and sometimes longer than that because he liked to keep you in the chair until his next appointment showed up.

Jim had managed to keep in storage one of the chairs from his dad's Sacajawea Barber Shop and when he was finally able to rent a small place next to Radio Shack on Adams Avenue, he installed it.  Could have been one of the same chairs I had sat in years before.  But before he was set up in his own little "shop" he would cut hair in the basement of his mother's house. This (see left) was the barber chair, and I got a lot of great hair cuts on that throne.

I remember one time when the ward Jim was in was holding an auction and he had offered a free hair cut.  I happened to be walking through the cultural hall when the bidding was going on.  There had been no takers for the hair cut.  The lady auctioneer was berating the men with such words as "Don't you have any idea what a Jim Veal hair cut is?  It's like jewelry from Tiffany's.....".  I wasn't a member of the ward but I couldn't hold back, so I called out "Twenty dollars!!".  "Sold to Brother H....He knows a good deal when he sees one."
That was twice as much as Jim charged, but it was worth it.

Unfortunately, Jim's health suddenly took a turn for the worse and before we knew it he was gone.  For a few months I was in limbo.  I'd tried all three of the other shops in town, but those guys only gave hair cuts....no sculpting like Michelangelo.  Eventually I decided to try the lady barber in one of the shops and she did a good job.  She was also an avid movie fan and we had lots to talk about. (That was back in the days before I had to take out my hearing aids before I could get my hair cut.  Ah, youth!)  Her name was Glenda.

Then the man who owned the shop died; his wife closed up the shop and Glenda was out of a job.  A couple of months later (two months with poor haircuts) I ran into another man who had also been going to Glenda. I asked him where he was getting his haircut these days and he said "From Glenda...she comes to my house."
I called her and said "Hey, how come you're cutting Elmer's hair but not mine?"  Turns out she couldn't do any advertising and had to rely on the word getting around that she was still cutting hair.  So, for the last few three or four years before we left La Grande, Glenda came to our house and gave me a  good haircut in the kitchen.  Not a Jim Veal sculpture, but a good hair cut; better than any shop in town.

Then we moved to Sandy.  (Background music: "Nobody know the trouble I've seen....")  Unwilling to pay way too much to go to a fancy salon,  I bounced around from one shop to another, never being really happy with the results.  Found a lady at "Fantastic Sam's" who did a pretty good job.  Stuck with her for the better part of a year....she moved to California.  Found another I thought was good....an automobile accident cut short her career.

I saw a fellow at church who had a really good hair cut; asked him who his barber was.  When he said he cut his own hair, I thought I'd give it a try.  Even bought a kit.  Hah!  Talk about uncoordinated....especially when trying to look into one mirror while seeing the back of my head in another.  Wonder what I could get for the kit on ebay.

Then one day this came in the mail.  Thought I'd give it a try.  There's a shop  just down 114th from our condo, nice and close.  Got a good haircut from a young lady, went to her for three or four times....she transferred to another shop half way across the valley.   Tried another one....not bad.  Supercuts transferred her, too.  So I decided to take action.  I sent Supercuts an email.  Told them a customer's loyalty is not to Supercuts, it's to the person who cuts his hair.  I thought that would be the end of it but much to my surprise, they replied.  Then the next day I got a phone call from them; the lady apologized profusely then explained that the beauty operator had been promoted to a manger position at another shop (again, far from my geographic comfort zone). Then she told me they would like to send me a coupon for a free hair cut, which they did.

I used it when I tried a new barber (operator?) She did a good job.  I went back to her....another good haircut.  So, I'll stick with her and see how long it is before she abandons me.

But there will never be another Jim Veal, which is why I still use this picture (several years old) as often as possible.