20181129.0430

One of the tasks allotted to me in my day job is collecting hair samples for drug testing. Normally, I collect from the head, taking enough hair to fill a small soda straw. Not always am I able to do so, however. Sometimes, the clients who come to me don't have enough hair on their heads to offer such a sample, whether by choice or by chance (and more often the latter, alopecia being what it is). On occasion, one will not want to have my gloved hands messing with a precious 'do, will resist the touch of Barbicide-cleansed scissors on the scalp's fine coat. That is a rare thing, though; most who come to me for a small haircut know that it is the easiest and best way to get what is needed--even though they may not always be happy about the need.
When folks come in who can't--or won't--give a sample from their heads, other measures must be taken. For a few, a small beard-trim is in order, and the bearded usually grumble only a bit about my work; I wear a beard, as well, so they seem to understand that I understand. It takes a fair bit of time to grow a beard that looks like anything decent, so having it trimmed is not a fun thing; my own beardliness tells the clients that I'm not going to take more than I must. (It sometimes backfires; three of the follicle samples I've taken have been returned as of insufficient quantity. Only three of the several hundred, but more than I'd like it to have been.) But most of those who lack hair atop lack it on cheeks and chin, as well; the Texas Hill Country does not admit of full beards as much as other places I have lived, certainly not of such length as help to keep a face warm.
No, most of the hairless-headed or sacrosanct-scalped I see get shaved. Right now, we have wonderful pink razors waiting, each in its own package and used only once. In the last week, I've shaved forearms (preferred because of ease of access and lack of squickiness), legs (not as preferred because of contortions), and armpits (less preferred for obvious reasons); more than once, I've shaved chests and backs. It's been...revealing, to say the least. Shaving someone else is a different experience, and I hadn't been accustomed to shaving parts other than chin and cheeks and neck. But there is a certain intimacy in such acts, something strange to have between a glorified clerk (still in long line descended from him of Oxford...) and people coming in to discharge the demands of the workplace or of the court and not again for six months or more, if ever.
If there's something to follow up on in that, I have no idea what it is.