An age-old practice

FOR Emmette Albert being a professional barber was never in his thoughts as a youth but the occupation just happened on him due to encouragement from friends, and today he manages a barbershop with a staff of seven in the busy downtown area of Georgetown.
The 34-year-old has been in the barbering business for about 15 years, having started out at a ‘bottom house’ on a recommendation by a school friend.

Albert, who originally hails from Agricola, told the Pepperpot Magazine that the only other barber in the family is his uncle whom he emulated having come to appreciate the profession over the years.

HOW IT STARTED
“Since school days I used to cut my friends’ hair so I had a lot of practice but one particular friend I used to cut his hair all the time, and when we completed high school I had no idea what to do for a living and he encouraged me to go work at a newly opened ‘bottom house’ barber shop which was a ‘big thing’ back then,” Albert said.

Albert explained that when he told his mom about his intention to work at a barber shop she wasn’t pleased, but he managed to convince her that it was only a temporary thing because he didn’t want to let his friend down so he took the job.

“I went to work one day which turned into many days as a barber and today I am a professional barber because of the influence of four school friends. We had a plan of joining the army after high school but they migrated and I was left with just me,” Albert said.
He related that after he started to work at the barber shop, a few weeks had passed and that friend left abruptly for Suriname, it was that point he decided to establish his own business.

Albert’s barbershop is located at Lot 1 Cornhill Street, Stabroek, by the Timehri bus park; one of the busiest places in Georgetown.

BARBERSHOP ‘GAFF’
Albert said that the barbershop is a humorous place with a whole lot of chat of nothingness; ‘gaff’- as Guyanese call it- with plenty fluff and speculations. He described it as being like a courtroom where everyone is on trial, with mostly no facts at all- mere assumptions, rows, a lot of swearing, bets and idle talk.

He said, “Really and truly the barbershop is a place filled with a lot of talk of things they know nothing of, a joyful place where there are a few arguments, where customers come in an even fall in on the ‘gaff’ like if it is normal.”

The barber stated that the barbershop is a place where there is endless talk of the trending news, the weather, religion, sports and any other thing under the sun along with numerous jokes and this usually happens while barbers are tending to customers.
Albert said there are no boundaries to barbershop ‘gaff’ and it is amusing what you hear sometimes but if there are children or women around, the conversation is automatically censored and he does that by ‘winking his eye’, or giving his barbers the eye, or suddenly clearing his throat and they know what to do.

PLEASING CUSTOMERS
In his years as a barber, Albert pointed out that he has met all kinds of people and due to daily interaction with folks he has managed to gain a lot of patience and can deal with any customer since the job is about pleasing people so that they must leave satisfied.
“We get a lot of walk-ins and some appointments but mostly men would come to get groomed while women visit to shape their brows and a few for haircuts of their preference,” he said.

When asked why people keep returning to his barbershop, Albert said it is for the service as well as how you treat them, added to the fact that the location is convenient and the good quality of service among other things.
What’s fulfilling for Albert is when the customer is satisfied with the service. He said that once you have a wide range of clientele, the business becomes lucrative but the job is not a ‘walk in the park’ since it requires some amount of patience.

He explained that dealing with some folks takes a bit longer than others and by remaining calm and staying humble one will master the art of tolerance.
Per day the barber shop sees about 10 customers and service is based on a ‘first come, first serve’ basis or appointments or one will simply have to wait their turn.

Albert added that the barbershop is a busy place and on weekends it gets hectic. He stated that all hair care and grooming products are locally acquired and their aim is to guarantee satisfaction.