Old style barber, what happens after the last of them retires?




Athens

I hardly thought I would be exploring Athens, a city which I had, once upon a time, called home for a couple of years.

During this infrequent visit to one of my homelands, I get the opportunity to walk around some of the old neighborhoods and occasionally surprise myself by discovering some things that have not changed since I lat lived her here which was back in the seventies.

Despite the rapid modernization and globalization of Greece, there are still remnants of an older way of life to be found, such as this tradtional barber shop. But who will continue the tradition when the last of them retire?

We Greeks think of ourselves as a proud nation that maintains tradition but do we? Even this particular barber has stopped using the straight razor blade favouring the convenience of disposable plastic razors. I did, however, find one that still uses a straight razor in Ioannina (in the north-west).

The continuation of traditional trades and skills is one area that has perhaps suffered a lot of erosion, especially in recent times of fast paced "development". Everything is relative, of course, so compared to the Japanese, I would say our record in keeping traditions going looks rather poor.

© evangelo costadimas 2005

Posted: Thursday - October 27, 2005 at 09:15 PM          

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