Not everyone wants to be entertained 100% of the time. It feels weird to assume everyone should be a talkative person all the time. At the end of the day barbers are still doing a technical job, some of them probably would prefer to focus on the work as well. How do you feel when you are focused on something and someone is asking you pedantic questions?

As somebody with that attitude, it's because I find it quite zen just to relax and be groomed by a professional. I won't shut down conversation, but I won't initiate it either.

The other thing is that decades of motorcycling without ear plugs has rooted my hearing, so talking to people with thick accents (I'd say 50% of hairdressers here are immigrants) can't be tiring, which is the opposite of why I actually enjoy getting my hair cut. There's a nice Korean lady I sometimes see who chats away merrily, but I feel like an arsehole having to ask her to repeat herself the whole time.

> "rooted"

Aussie?

In any case, you may not have good hearing, but at least you have good hair!

Gotta love the way australians think being polite and couth is achieved by using another word for f&^k that literally means f^&k.

"The gearbox is totally f&^ked! Oh, sorry Cheryl, didn't see you there. I mean it's rooted."

We have a long, proud history of screwing the queen's, sorry, king's english.

Kiwi! But yes, polite way of saying my hearing is fucked. Odd phrase... if I were to use that in the context of actual fucking, I'd consider it a vulgar way to put it!

Because I... don't like talking to people? It's not entertaining to me, it's excruciating.

I don’t talk to cab drivers either.

My girlfriend always finds a way to start conversations with ever driver but I rarely ever do unless I’m in some peppy mood.

The pressure to talk to barbers seems much higher though.

I treat my barber like family........ i need to look good!

Good point. It's always good to take care of service workers that do a good job.

When forced to make smalltalk with zero shared context with someone I find it a huge burden to avoid saying something weird, or offensive or too random, its like the filter is too strict to be able to say anything interesting so its not worth the mental effort. People who enjoy smalltalk seem to be much less sensitive to whether the person is interested or agrees and are more willing to take conversational chances.

Obligatory "You must be the person that doesn't stop talking to breathe at parties." Honestly though, some people just don't like nattering away and would rather just sit and relax for a few minutes.

Sitting at the barber's getting my hair cut is one of only a handful of times that it feels like I'm spending time just for me. So I'd like to keep that time for me and let my brain wander.

Do you really think 100% of hairdressers LIKE to make smalltalk for 8h per day? Probably rehashing some news event with 4 different people?

I like to talk to people I'm friends with, so far that has not included any of my hairdressers, so I sit there in silence, answering when spoken to and being generally friendly, but not initiating any conversation.

For 5yrs my friend was a barber by trade and I would always go to him (wherever he worked regardless of price) and would sit in silence while he did his job. He appreciated the silence as, like you say, most of his clients would make smalltalk about the same current affairs. Sometimes the prices were outrageous but my friend was only an employee, and loyalty was far more important.

After the cut we often used to go out for a meal and then we'd chat for hours.

The cut was a business transaction, the meal was between friends.

Right near the CalTech campus, there was a barbershop owned and operated by a sole older gentleman. You’d sit down, tell him what you wanted, and he’d give you a magazine (often Scientific American) and cut your hair in silence. It was perfect.

Best haircut I ever got was by and Indian gentleman in the Dominican Republic. He was so intensely focused he never said a word.

> Honestly though why would anyone have this attitude

WHAT? I am paying for a service. I expect that service to be completed well. And it typically is. The service I am paying for does not include nor warrant "small talk", why should it?

> has zero downside

Incorrect. I have to pretend to be interested in whatever inane topic they want to discuss, or ones I don't have any interest in or care about. I have to use my brain power on a useless distraction.

> a meaningful conversation

I don't want a meaningful conversation from a haircut. Nor do I want it while shopping, or a mechanics shop, or any other random ass place where I am trying to get errands done. Service, money, done. Nothing else needed. Not everyone wants to deal with -you- or your fake ass pleasantries. I don't want to deal with someone pretending to know me, or like me, or be nice because _its literally their job_. I want to pay for my services and go away.