08 September 2008

Hair cuts and Indian food smells

For a while, maybe a year and a half, I cut hair. I wasn't particularly good at it. I had no training. It wasn't like I was making a living at it. I just did it. I charged less than $10 a haircut.

During this time (years ago), I repeatedly went over to a friend's house to cut his hair. He believed I could cut his hair because I said I could. Never underestimate the power of projecting confidence! Also, I was cutting my boyfriend's hair at the time and said boyfriend wasn't wearing a baseball cap to work. So I guess I could at least follow a previous cut.

During this time period I probably wound up cutting hair for five or six guys.* Generally, I just did what I saw cutters do. You know, a lot of pulling the hair out to a distance on both sides of the head and eyeballing it to see if it was even.

So I went to my friend's house to cut his hair. I remember entering the house and smelling the rich combinations of cumin and coriander and cinnamon and my friend saying, "Doesn't that smell wonderful? Why don't you stay for dinner." His young bride had prepared an Indian meal for their (extended) (Indian) family.

At the time, I thought "Ugh. Weird smells!" and begged off.

I cut his hair while his wife watched everything I did. At the end, she said, "I think I can do that."

I said, "Sure you can."

My friend said to his wife, "No, you can't cut my hair. You don't know what you're doing."

I tried to assure them both it wasn't that hard but he'd hear none of it. She went off to watch Three's Company. Seriously.

I stopped cutting my friend's hair when, in the course of one evening, I nicked a mole that was just below his hairline with the scissors and told his brother that he wasn't fooling anyone by combing his hair from one ear over his bald head to the other ear.

Yeah, smooth. That's me. I hope they teach some customer relations skills at beautician school.

But back to the smelly Indian food... Today, I love Indian food and the smells that come with it. I can totally get fat on Indian food because Indian restaurants so often provide a buffet and it all looks and smells so good to me. Samosas, pakoras, dals, curries, nan, all of it. I can load up a whopping plate of Indian food, finish it off, and happily go back for more.

Which leads me to today's question: How can something smell repugnant to you at one point in your life and smell absolutely wonderful to you at another point in your life?


* Never women. In my experience, women care if their hair is cut right much more than men do.

18 comments:

GreenCanary said...

Same thing with taste... I used to LOATHE olives. Now I can't get enough of 'em. What's that all about?

rachaelgking said...

They say if you try anything 7 times, you'll start to like it. I used to be an incredibly picky eater, and now I can count on one hand the things I truly dislike.

Gilahi said...

Well, if the 7-times rule is true, it must be 7 times in pretty rapid succession. There are things like coconut that I really think I should like. After all, it's sweet and chewy and wholesome. So I've tried over the years. Many, many times. It makes me gag. Same with cooked spinach. I know it's good for me. I should really eat it. It's a staple on restaurant menus, but I just can't. IMO, you ruin perfectly good spinach when you cook it.

Mike said...

As you get older you lose taste buds just like your eyesite and hearing gets worse. So things you disliked at a younger age can be tolerated when you're older.

And then there is the Supertaster thing. Typically if you don't like coffee you are a supertaster. I can't stand coffee.

fiona said...

Checked out the "Sense of Smell Institute" for you and they do a whole "Smell 101" on-line! Who knew??

Anonymous said...

Oh I see a dinner at Minerva in my future. As in my tonight. Thanks for inciting a wicked craving!

Kristin said...

I dunno. I don't like the smell of curry in other people's apartments, especially when they're not cooking, but I like making it myself.

That reminds me. I wanted to curry okra and chickpeas tonight. I should get on that.

Herb said...

I hated vodka as a child. Tastes mature.

Sean said...

I was going to ask if you could cut my hair (since you're probably just as good if not better than some of the folks at Hair Cuttery), but then you went and changed the subject to smell and scent. I got nothing. (Sorry!)

Narm said...

I need a haircut and have been thinking about the comb-over look. You have ten minutes?

Kanupriya said...

Hmmm maybe you get used to a particular smell after being with it for sometime. BTW Indian food is not that bad that you needeed to run away from it :-)...Happy to know tha you like Indian Food now, some Indian recipes are quite yummy!

Reya Mellicker said...

Body-mind-spirit is an ever changing entity. Sometimes a person needs one thing, sometimes another.

Lucky for you that you've matured into loving Indian food. I, too, LOVE Indian food. Yum!!

Other foods I used to love I now can not tolerate. The smell of bacon cooking used to be delicious. Now it smells like skanky old dishwater to me. Go figure.

Kate said...

Indian food still smells repugnant to me, but I shove it in my mouth quickly enough to forget that I don't like how it smells. I LOVE it.

lacochran said...

GreenCanary: Me, too! Hated olives and now I snap 'em up at Jaleo!

LivitLuvit & Gilahi: Huh! Might be worth a try. Either I'll love it or I'll throw up.

Mike: Perhaps this is a blessing given that we will likely wind up eating institutional food.

Fiona: How very thoughtful!

CharlotteHarris & Kristin: Hope it was yummy!

Herb of DC: :) Good point.

Sean: Thank you for noting my other topic! I was beginning to despair.

Narm: You're not fooling anybody. Damn! I did it again.

Kanupriya Sindhu Ramrakhyani: It's true! Thanks for stopping by.

Reya Melliker: You've triggered a flashback: I was never so nauseous as the morning after drinking too much and eating bad queso (as in, that queso must have gone bad) when I smelled bacon cooking in the next room. Couldn't get out of there fast enough.

Kate: It is incredibly tasty when it's done right.

GreenCanary said...

*snickering at Herb of DC*

lacochran said...

GreenCanary: He is clever.

Ibid said...

I do miss female hair stylists. Don't get me wrong, I like my barbershop with the straight razor and Playboys in the magazine rack. But having an attractive woman running her fingers through your hair with her chest right at eye level is pretty wonderful, too.

lacochran said...

Ibid: Well, sure! :)