Eleven days ago, I shared a short homage to the Barber of Seville, who retired at the end of the year. He cut hair for about half a century and kept at it past age 80. George clearly wanted to keep going, but he ached and tired too easily. Time had come to close a career that defined the man and the customer social circle built up over decades. Surely, he is lonelier for the retirement. He will be missed.
Today, I walked up Monroe Street to Park Blvd, in my San Diego neighborhood of University Heights. Across the way, a worker prepared to remove the business sign hanging over the door. He had already detached the thing from the building. Sometime later, I passed again. The smaller barber’s sign had been removed, too.
