Near the University of Cincinnati, on Vine Street, lives a barbershop called Good

Looks. The workers and cliental are significantly different than me to say the least. I
chose to submerse myself in an African American barbershop culture; I identify as an
African American, but I often forget that I am said race. I grew up in an all-white, upper
middle class family, so this world was a complete shock to me. I wanted to gain insight
into this world because it has always interested me, and it will always be a part of who I
ammy self-identity.
It made me unbelievably uncomfortable to be immersed in this setting because I
stuck out like a sore thumb. And I have bad anxiety. Im a wimp and the city scares me
already, so I had preconceived notions that these people were thugs and bad. Im not
racist, but the uncertainty of the situation made me a nervous wreck. I took my schooling
and education so seriously growing up that Im a confident, polished, grammatically
correct speaker. I didnt mean to come off superior to this crowd, I just hold myself to
high, professional standards. They did not, and thats benign. I really learned who I was
in a setting where I was an outcast. I questioned my beliefs, self-concept, and true
identity. Only in a sub-culture, would I have to consider and answer important questions.
The cool factor matters here. To explain, the walls were plastered with screens of
the game. I was concerned that my barber Abdel was looking more at the screen, then
my head, which he was cutting. Im not a sports fan at all, but all the adults in the shop
were acting like they were watching the Superbowl. I found myself adjusting my
response to the game to fit in more into the environment and conversation.
In the beginning, I walked in and went right to a chair in the lobby area. I was
pretending to be on my phone, but I was really scoping out the place. As I sat down near
the cash register, there were a couple kids running around like maniacs. I was
purposefully early, so I could get my full hour of spectating in.
First thing I noticed was their communication style. It was straight to the point
no flowery language. I think back to our lesson on verbal and nonverbal packaging. What
isnt said says a great deal about how they feel. Their nonverbal meant more to me than
what they actually said. It is interesting. For example, I thought I was out of place, but
this older Caucasian man came in like he was a potential owner, and my barber turned
away from my hair to talk to him for a solid ten minutes. Abdel sounded pretty cool in his
speech: How you doin man? You straight? (Translation: You good?). He swaggered
over to this man, though, giving him eye contact and his utmost attention. You would
think they were brothers.
Beside me in another chair, two huge African Americans were waiting on their
friends hair to be cut. These guys were skyscrapers, and made out of steel. I looked like a
5th grader in comparison. I was self conscious about how I conversed with Abdel and how
those guys would unintentionally be the receivers of my message.
I learned that labels are immensely limiting. People are so dynamic and complex
that the variation in personality types is overwhelmingly pleasant. I learned that I have to

be exposed to these different sub-cultures, even when uncomfortable, because it will

broaden my idea of the world around me.
I remember when I was younger and visited my black fathers house in downtown
Cincinnati a couple times, there were shootings and robberies. It was a heavily African
American populated culture and thats an image I have struggled to expunge. The
experience of seeing my fathers world created powerful, painful memories and images.
From this I created a belief system stemming from unfair stereotypes and in turn,
executed strategies of how to avoid people of African American descent and their culture.
I was putting people in boxes. Their lives are so interesting, and next time I get
my haircut I want to know about Abdels lifewhat got him here. Ive learned a lot about
myself in this dynamic setting as I have about my cultures perceptions of another, and
how media portrays certain races to where we believe a false reality.
Our class lectures are directly applicable to how to communicate in circumstances
like these. I need to avoid Intensional Orientation, the tendency to view the world in the
way its talked about or labeled. Instead, I need to respond to things first; look for the
labels second. Also, avoid indiscrimination: a form of stereotyping, focus on classes of
individuals, objects or events. To combat, recognize uniqueness, and mentally index each
individual in a group.
The Iceberg Illustration is interesting to explore in this situation. I continue to
think, Why are these people doing what they do? And I may never know that, but it still
amazes me. All I see is that 10% above the surface that explains how people behave and
communicate.