Life in the post-stay-at-home era has been quite interesting so far.

Like many others, my hair got pretty wild during the coronavirus pandemic. I was probably two or three weeks away from needing a haircut when the governor's stay-at-home order went into effect on the weekend of March 14; so you can just about imagine how crazy my hair looked when I rolled up to the salon on May 18.

Actually, you don't have to imagine. Here's a photo.

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In the midst of the pandemic, I decided to throw some cash to my barber seeing that he was literally prohibited to work by law and wasn't going to be able to cut hair for at least another month. While some other businesses were able to offer alternative options like live-streaming, online sales, and curbside service, those in the "6-foot" service industry were shut out completely.

To me, this was a win-win because I could help out my barber AND I would get first dibs whenever Phase 1 would go into effect. On Monday, I would get my shot.

Before I even rolled up, my barber had texted me at least 3 reminders to "wear my mask" and "be prepared to have my temperature taken." In a weird way, all of his instructions felt like standard "protocol" to me, making me wonder if I was already conditioned to this "new normal."

Upon my arrival, I texted him to know I was outside. I then waited until he told me it was OK to enter (one customer at a time per stylist). Once he was done with his previous customer, with my mask on, I was ready for action.

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When I stepped into the salon, I immediately noticed a difference in the layout of the space. There were only three stylists working with more than ample distance between each chair. A female customer in a stylish cheetah print mask was sitting down filling out a form that I would soon be handed to fill out before getting a haircut.

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Before filling out the form, I had my temperature taken. I was a cool 98.7 degrees and good to go. Fully masked up and completely compliant, I followed my barber to the chair and was ready to lose all this COVID hair.

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I was wondering how the mask would play into the overall experience (both breathing and conversating, lol) but other than being muffled, it really wasn't that bad. At one point I did feel like I got a hair in my throat and I needed to cough. I tried to fight it, but I wasn't strong enough; so I just coughed into my elbow through my mask with tears welled up in my eyes from my feeble attempt to avoid the shameful hacking.

If that was the worst of my first-world COVID problems, then life in the post-stay-at-home-era wasn't so bad after all.

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Overall, the experience was unique but no different than a normal haircut. I do wonder how long this process will be a part of getting my "hurr did," but this is pretty much what you can expect if you're getting a post-COVID trim anytime soon.

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Also, for what it's worth, be sure to drop a decent tip for your barber or hairdresser if possible. They've been out of work for months and a little extra from everyone will go a long way.

Be safe out there, and if you've got a good post-COVID story I'd love to hear it; so drop me a line and share.

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