Or sip a complimentary espresso while getting a hot towel and back-of-the-neck shave in the barber chair. Or get their brows waxed during lunch break here, across from the Seattle Central Library.

This Old Town spot feels like a members-­only cigar lounge, with its red walls, gold-trimmed mirrors, and vintage barber chairs. For $65, enjoy an experience that includes a facial massage and ...

Ruiz offered his services, and the old man agreed. After that haircut and beard trim, Ruiz decided to turn his hobby into something more. In 2007, he moved to Anaheim and enrolled at The Real Barber ...

Like old-school barber shops - people would come in, get a haircut and then hang out. Heck, a lot of people would come in and wouldn't even get a haircut. They'd just stop in.

But, to the barber’s soothing snip, snip, snip, and the gentle tug of the comb, I dreamed of the barber shops of my boyhood, and of Clarkie Parker’s in particular.

The frequent, sometimes weekly, visits to the barber and the physical connection between barber and client transcends a mere cut or shave. It's an outlet for discussion, a decompression valve.