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READING LEVEL 4
Pandemic Haircut
Shuk Chun Yiu
This pandemic has shut down many activities. We have to stay at home for a time to make the virus spread slowly in our community. It feels like we are in a war. This war involves everyone in our earth village. No matter how bad the circumstances are, we have to keep ourselves strong and healthy to run this marathon. It helps if you can find ways to laugh and be joyful.
For me, this opportunity came when my husband invited me to trim his hair. He had not had a trim for almost one month. I am the only one who could do it for him during the pandemic. I had never done it before. We made a joke that if I did an ugly cut it was no problem because no one would see him! We had a great time laughing together!
I imagined myself as a hairstylist. This was one of my dream jobs when I was young. For good preparation, I searched how to trim hair on YouTube. I learned some skills, like how to cut hair close to the ear and around the neck. We pre- pared the haircut scissors and haircut apron.
He sat on a short stool inside the bathtub and covered himself with the apron. I followed his original hairstyle and trimmed it. He obeyed my request to turn his head to the left and right. I gave him a mirror to check the look, same as in a salon. The result was good. Both sides were even and the top was flat. I like it. He likes it, too!
We did a great job, and we were joyful. The main thing was we had fun in this uncertain time.
Shuk Chun Yiu is a student at RI Family Literacy Initiative’s Transitions to College class at the Pawtucket Public Library in Pawtucket, RI. She is from Hong Kong, and she now lives in Rhode Island with her husband, who moved there for work.