Pole Positions

The soon to open barber shop in tiny downtown Hawthorne is chugging along, and even had its traditional red, white and blue poll lit up and spinning when I was schlepping past en route to the station yesterday morn.

Speaking of Hawthorne hairdressers, we decided to go in a different direction for Little G’s haircut over the weekend, skipping New Horizons and the at times grating banter between the barber dudes there, not to mention the wait, and opting for Livia’s Salon a few doors down.

I have to say–the visit to Livia’s was a pleasant surprise. Three ladies met us with a warm hello at the door, including Livia herself. And Livia is a huge character. As Little G got his trim, she told me about growing up in Mount Vernon, then relocating to Valhalla at age 8, and what a fish out of water she was up here in the sticks. She told me about the cliques she was shunned from in high school, but how so many of the shunners had turned into her clients, and friends.

She’s got something of an Italian lilt to her speech, which I asked about. She said she was born in New York, but her first language was Italian.

Livia told me about her dad coming into the parlor once, and how he was made to wait because all the stylists were tied up, and how he left in a huff.

She’s funny and friendly and Little G got a decent cut for $15. We even took a halftime break during the trim to munch on some Girl Scout cookies. (Samoas, if you’re scoring at home.)

I don’t think the beauty parlor-style places get much kid business, especially when the kids are boys–those tots probably go to known kiddie places, such as the joint with the airplane and fire engine chairs in Thornwood, or traditional barber shops. But Livia’s Salon was completely ready for a kid cut, with a race car chair (Little G deemed himself too grown up for that), lollipops, and stylists with winning chairside manners.

By the way, what’s with the inordinate number of haircut places along our diminutive downtown, as well as along Commerce Street as it stretches into Thornwood? Couldn’t we trade a few of those for an Irish pub or Italian bakery?