Arty-365 said" I vowed that I would be more of a contributor than just a
reader.." and he DOES contribute with this story ......SUSAN'S SUMMER JOB
        "What have I gotten myself into?" Susan asked herself as she
stepped off the bus at the entrance to the barracks that would be her home
for the next three months.  A first year college student at State
University, Susan had joined the Army reserve and was reporting for the
first day of her training.  As her basic officer training course of 22
other college students stepped off the bus, they were greeted by the
bellowing voice of their platoon sergeant."All right, fall in over here
front of me and answer to your name when called" he said. Susan
hesitatingly fell into the back row and nervously looked at the rest of
the group.  Most of the other candidates were between 18 and 20 years old
and all were college students like herself.  Nearly all of the men were
dressed in jacket and tie while the seven women of the platoon wore casual
skirts with sweaters and blazers.  Over half of the men already had
regulation military haircuts (Susan assumed these were people with
military experience) and the rest sported a variety of lengths and
civilian styles.  Four of the women (including Susan) had hair past their
shoulders with the longest being nearly at one girl's waist.  The
remaining three had shorter hair - one chin length bob, another sheared at
the earlobes and the third had her dark hair shorn into a crew cut.  It
was with this girl that Susan sat with on the bus and had learned that her
name was Jill and that she had been a Corporal in the reserves and was
attempting to become an officer.  During the ride, Susan curiously
approached the subject of Jill's severe hairstyle."Don't get me wrong,
because I think that cut suits you, but did you have to get your hair cut
that short?"  Susan asked.  Jill was quite petite and the close cropped
look did flatter her, but Susan could never think of cutting her beautiful
auburn hair that short.  All through the bus trip Susan had difficulty
keeping her eyes off of the closeness of the cut, particularly at the back
of her neck where it had been shaved super short.  Jill laughed, " No, I
chose this myself.  I did get it cut for this course though.  I always had
it fairly short, sort of like that girl over there" she pointed to a woman
with a curly bob to the middle of her ears, " but when I knew I was going
on basic training again, I didn't want to worry about spending time on it
so off it went.  I got it done in a barber shop and you should have seen
the look on the barber's face when I told him what I wanted.  He didn't
say anything and just picked up the electric clippers and started shearing
away.  I must admit I was a little shocked when all the curls started
falling in my lap and I saw the floor covered in my hair, but I kind of
like it now and of course it's easy to keep."
        "I could never cut my hair like that," Susan said, "I'll put up
with the trouble braiding it and all the other stuff.  Besides, they can't
make us cut our hair short - Can they?"  Susan asked pensively.  "Well,"
Jill said "theorhetically no, because the dress regulations say that as
long as the hair is above the collar either in length or pinned up, its
OK.  I do remember one officer last year who came back from summer
training with her long hair all cut off.  When I asked her about it, she
told me that their female section sergeant had "suggested" that the
females get short haircuts and were essentially harrassed into it or were
sent home for one reason or another. But that had to be an isolated case. 
Don't worry Susan, you won't have to part with your long, luxurious
tresses."  Jill joked. Susan laughed too, but she did not have a
comfortable feeling about how things were going to work out in basic
training."Cavendish!" the Sergeant yelled.   Hearing her last name jerked
Susan back to reality and she quickly responded with a "Here". "All right.
 You've been assigned your rooms in the quarters and the section sergeants
will see find them.  You've got 30 minutes to dump your gear  in your
rooms and then back out here on the bus for the barber shop.  That's right
boys, time to lose all those golden curls!  Ladies, that includes you. 
Sergeant Stebbins will brief you. Now move!"
        The course broke up and ran inside towards their rooms.  Susan was
getting an uneasy feeling about the last statement about the barber shop. 
As she got into her room, she found that Jill, the girl with the waist
length hair whose name was Natalie and Dawn (the chin bob) were her
roommates."Oh my god, you don't think that they'll make us get our
haircut?!" Natalie exclaimed as she dropped her bags on the ground.  "They
told me that all I had to do was put it up! I can't cut my hair!" She was
almost in tears. "Don't worry," Jill replied, " We probably just have to
go with the guys to keep the platoon together, you know, for solidarity. 
Besides, didn't you see that guy with in  football jacket with the really
long hair - he definitely doesnt have a choice!"  Just as Natalie was
about to respond, Sergeant Stebbins entered the room along with the other
three women on the course. Sergeant Stebbins was a solid 5 foot six and
though not ugly was not extremly feminine in appearance.  Her hair was cut
short over her ears in a boyish style with a squared off back. The women
listened intently as she described the administrative arrangements for the
accomodation.
        "One more thing," she said slyly, "hair." Susan, Natalie and the
third long haired girl's ears perked up when she said this.  "You have a
choice.  I am responsible for your appearance during this course and I
have yet to see anyone put up long hair in such a fashion that it doesn't
affect the appearance of the headress and the military look.  Short hair
is it.  If you refuse to cut your  hair, you are on your way home.  Now
I'll admit that Miss Parker's hair is a little extreme, but the rest of
you are off to the barber shop or on your way.  I don't care if it's a
square back or tapered, but it's above the collar, not off but above, and
at least mid way up your ear.  You can keep it as long as you want on top,
within reason.  The beauty shop will be ready for you when the bus arrives
and the hairdressers know what I will and will not accept.  You have ten
minutes to cry about it and those who want out can let me know then.  The
rest of you will board the bus with the men and go get your haircut."
        Silence filled the room and tears began to well up in Natalie and
Cathy (the third long hair) eyes. "Well," Jill said to Susan, "I guess
that's the isolated case I told you about. Sorry to hear that girls, but
trust me, you'll find it a lot easier to deal with as the course goes
one."  Jill contined about her unpacking. "I haven't cut my hair for 11
years.  I don't know if I can do it." Natalie said aloud, "I need this job
and I really want to do it.  I guess there's no option.  Any one got any
scissors?" she asked.  "What are you doing?"Susan asked incredibly. "I am
not going to give some cheap hairdresser the satisfaction of cutting off
this hair.  I'll let one of you guys do most of it and let the hairdresser
finish it up."  Having gained new courage, Natalie began to brush out her
magnificent mane one last time.  " All right, who wants to do it?"  Jill
popped up with a pair of scissors and said "If you're really sure, I'll do
it."  "Fine" Natalie replied, stood up and walked to the centre of the
room.  The rest of the girls watched intently. Beginning to lose her
confidence, she said "Right, just cut it straight across about... here."
She indicated to her chin. "OK, here we go," Jill said and slipped the
scissors into the thick mass of hair and started hacking away.  The
scissors were dull and required much snipping to get through the dark
tresses and as  yards of hair began piling up on the floor around
Natalie's feet, she began to sob silently. Jill continued to work her way
around Natalie's head, hacking away until she stepped back and announced
she was done.  Natalie's hands flew to her eyes to wipe away her tears as
she saw her mirror image in a locker mirror. Her once glorious mane was
now a simple, mid length, uneven bob; the thick lengths of shorn hair
lying in a pile on the floor. "Oh my god," she whispered, "I can't believe
I did that." She continued to stare into the mirror as the rest of the
girls stared apprehensively, nervously thinking about how it would be for
them.  Susan was just about ready to back out when the order came from
down the hall to board the bus.  Everyone scurried out of the room towards
the bus as the sergeants yelled impatiently.As the bus pulled up to the PX
mall, the course was ordered to dismount and line up in single file, one
line of men, one of women.  "All right gentlemen, the barber's are well
aware of their tasks , so just sit back and enjoy it.  Ladies, I
understand you have been briefed by Sergeant Stebbins.  Miss Cavendish,
you are to control the ladies and report to me when you are ready to
leave.  The bus will be here outside.  Right, in a single file MOVE!"
        In an orderly fashion the course moved into the building and the
men formed a line into the barber shop.  The beauty salon was just a few
yards away, and the hairdresser stood waiting outside.  "Over here
ladies," she called.  She appeared to be about thirty, thin with longish
permed brown hair. As the girls entered the salon, there were enough seats
in the waiting area so they all sat down.  The salon was otherwise
deserted, but all of the girls eyed the chairs,  anxiously awaiting their
turns under the scissors."I guess you have been told about what your hair
has to look like," the hairdresser said, " I know that it will be pretty
scary for you girls with long hair, but I'll do my best.  In this binder
are all the styles that have been approved for you. Sorry that there is
nothing longer." She said, passing the binder to Susan." So, who's first?"
        All the girls looked at each other silently and Dawn finally broke
the silence and stood up.
"I guess I'll take the  plunge" she announced and walked to the chair with
the hairdresser.  As she sat down,  Susan gave her the book with the style
photos. Dawn flipped through them as the hairdresser brushed out her hair
which fell to an even line all around her head at chin level.  Virtually
all the styles in the book were short, layered looks with a few little
bobs thrown in.  Dawn's eyes stopped a photo of Josie Bisset and her super
short crop.     Nervously she asked the hair dresser: "What do you think
about this?"
        "Oh that's really cute.  I could do that for you, but if you
didn't want to go that short, you can keep it in a bob but I'll just take
it up to here" she indicated the middle of her ear, which would still
require about three inches cut off all around. Dawn turned her head to the
side and looked at her reflection in the mirror and back to the photo of
the short, layered hairstyle in the book. "Well, maybe you're right.  I
have been trying to grow it out, so if I kept it all one length, at the
end of the course I can start growing it out again.  OK, keep it in a bob.
How short does it have to be again?" Dawn asked.The hairdresser continued
combing her hair and walking around Dawn in the chair.  "I have quite
explicit instructions and about the longest I can leave it is mid way up
your ear." She indicated the length by holding the comb horizontally at
the middle of  her ear.  Grasping the length of hair under the comb she  
continued, "All this would have to go. It would be the same all the way
around and judging by your fairly thick hairline in back" She pushed
Dawn's head forward and lifted up the hair at the nape of her neck,"I'd
have to clip it short-short to keep it neat"
        As Dawn looked up towards the other girls, she saw four sets of
huge eyes glued on her and the hairdresser.  Throwing caution to the wind,
Dawn got up and walked to the wash station. "Let's get it over with." She
said under her breath. After washing and rinsing her hair, Dawn was lead
back to the chair by the hair dresser and she sat down.  The stylist
draped her with the cape and began combing out her chin length hair and
sectioning it off and pinning it up.  Starting at the back, she made a
horizontal parting  all round at a level even with the middle of Dawn's
ears.  Taking the hair above the parting and pinning it up at the back,
the hairdresser left the sides hang free, leaving about four inches of
hair hanging down at the back of her head.  Dawn was surprised to see the
hair dresser pick up the blow dryer and dry the freshly washed hair at the
back of her head.
        "Don't you cut it wet?," she asked. Putting the dryer down and
reaching for a drawer, the hair dresser replied, "With the scissors, yes,
but when using the clippers, it's better to cut it dry:"  As if on cue,
she pulled out a set of electric clippers from the drawer and plugged them
in.  Dawn's eyes went wide as she looked at them and over to the
collection of nervous girls in the waiting area.  Susan's hand flew
instinctivley to her hair as she watched the hair dresser attach a guard
to the clippers and walk around behind Dawn. Silently, she pushed Dawn's
head forward to allow access to the loose hair at the back of her neck and
holding the buzzing clippers in one hand, she combed the hair straight
down one last time.  Dawn winced as she felt the clippers slide up and
under the hair at the nape of her neck and heard the tone of the buzzing
increase as the blades met hair and began shearing away.  Dispassionately,
the hairdresser continued around the back of Dawn's head, methodically
placing the clippers at the base of her neck and then running them
vertically up the back of her head until the section of hair that had not
been pinned up was reduce to quarter inch stubble.  Though it may only
have taken a few seconds, Dawn could only hear the incessant buzzing of
the clippers and feel them running up the back of her head.  All the
while, the other girls watched wide eyed as each pass with the clippers,
four inch sections of thick, dark hair fell to the floor and collected in
a  pile at the base of the chair.
        The hair dresser switched the clippers off and walked around Dawn,
placing them on the counter and picking up the scissors and comb.  Dawn
felt her un pin the sections of hair at the back of her head and start
combing them down over the freshly clipped nape.  The girls in the waiting
area watched the hairdresser as she cut off the four inches of hair so
that the loose top hair stopped short of the buzzed area.  She moved her
way to the sides where Dawn watched as her chin length bob was shortened
to mid ear. While the hairdresser was snipping away at Dawn's tresses,
another woman walked into the salon and walked by the waiting girls and
went to the back of the salon.  Reappearing a minute later, she grunted a
hello to the other hairdresser and walked over to another stylist station
and crisply asked "OK, who's next?" The girls again looked at each other,
suspicious of the new hairdresser.  Wearing a smock with the name"Beth" on
it, she looked about forty, heavy set, glasses and short, nondescript grey
hair.  Not at all a friendly face or demeanor.  Impatiently she stood
behind the chair and finally announced  "I've been doing this for years
now and the quicker you get it over with the better.  Sgt Stebbins has
fully briefed me so let's get on with it.  Come on sweetie, we'll do you
first"
        Susan's heart jumped to her throat as she realized that Beth was
refering to her.  Seized by some uncontrollable force, she stood up and
walked over to Beth's chair.  With no delay, Beth swung her around to face
the mirror and draped her with a cape. Beth immediately  began brushing
out Susans hair so it fell straight down 6 inches past her shoulders. "My
sweetie, you have such nice hair its a shame we have to chop it all off. 
Don't worry, it'll look good short." Susan, close to tears, started to say
" I saw a picture of what I would like..."  But Beth just kept combing and
said "Don't worry sweetie, I know what to do. You'll look great."
        So nervous and overwhelmed was she, Susan could barely speak above
a whisper. "Um, can't I just show you what I'd like.  I don't want it too
short, in fact could you leave it as long as possible?"  At that, Beth
stopped combing and stood behind Susan and looked in her eyes in the
mirror.  Seeming somewhat irritated Beth grudgingly replied " Fine, show
me your picture, but like I said, I've been preparing you girls for summer
training for three years and I know what the sergeant will and will not
accept."  While she was saying this, one of the other girls brought Susan
the binder with the  "approved" styles in it.  She flipped to the
appropriate page and reluctantly showed her a photo.
        "I want to keep it as long as possible, and I want to be able to
grow it again after the summer, so can you maybe do this?"  She asked
timidly.  The photo she showed was a basic ear-lobe length bob, all one
length. Beth briefly looked over her shoulder at the photo then began
combing out Susan's hair again. "Oh no sweetie, with your face shape that
wouldn't look right at all.  Trust me, I'm a great hairdresser and you'll
look super in short hair. Now I know that this will be a little scary but
don't worry. Come on now, let's wash it." Susan was lead over to the wash
station and Beth quickly washed and rinsed her hair for the last time.  
Beth  wrapped Susan's hair in a towel and  walked her back to the chair.  
On the way, Susan saw the first hairdresser finishing up Dawn's hair, 
blowing it dry and shaving the close hairs at the nape of her neck with a
small set of  electric clippers.   She sat down and the hairdresser
wrapped a cape around her.
        Beth removed the towel and began to comb out all of Susan's hair
to  it's full length.  At this point, Susan was facing the mirror,
watching it all happen.  Because she didn't wear bangs,  her hair was
combed straight down in front of her face as her hair was left to fall in
its natural distribution " Boy,  I don't know why I washed  it first. 
Normally, I  just cut off all of the length, wash it, then cut in the
style.  But that's OK.  " Beth said. Beth finished combing and reached for
the counter and picked up the scissors. Susan was almost in tears when
Beth spun her around so her back was to the mirror.  She pulled a hand out
from under the plastic cape to wipe a tear away and asked " What are you
going to do?", barely containing the anxiety of her voice. Beth just stood
in front of her and holding the scissors and comb and replied "I'm going
to cut it of course.  What did you think I was going to do?" She asked
rhetorically. Susan reached up and pushed the hair in front of her eyes
aside.  "I meant how are you going to do it?" Beth let out a frustrated
sigh and spun her back around so she was facing the mirror.  "Now look,"
she said in an unfriendly tone" I have had some trouble with girls before
who don't want to cut their hair and that's fine.  Just say so and you can
talk to the sergeant about going home.  If you want to stay, I''ve been
told the accepted standards and I will cut your hair accordingly.  Now,
we've got lots of girls waiting so tell me if you want to stay or not and
I can get going on the other girls." Susan was fully crying now but
managed to sob out " I want to stay, just tell me what you are going to do
so I can prepare myself". Beth softened a little, "Alright, sweetie, I
know its scary cutting off all your hair but don't be too concerned. You
have a real pretty face and I'm going to give you a cut that will really
make you look great."  She started combing her hair again and continued,
"First I'm going to chop off all the long stuff so its easier to work on,
then I'll start at the back and just cut in the style.  Then of course
I'll blow it dry and style it for you, OK?"
        "But what kind of style?  I'd like to keep it as long as they
allow it." Susan protested.
        "Don't you worry about that," Beth said, spinning her around once
more so her back was to the mirror, "you'll look really good.  Now I'll
cut your bangs first so you can watch what's going on" .  With that Beth
combed down the long hair in front of Susan's face and simply started
cutting straight across at a level even with her eyebrows.  Susan opened
her eyes to watch the foot long sections of wet, dark hair fall slide down
the cape and gather into  a pile on her lap. She could hear a gasp from
the waiting area as the other girls watched increduously."Say good bye,
sweetie ' cause off it goes!"  Beth said as she slipped the shears into
the left side of Susan's long hair.  Methodically she hacked away,
shearing off eight inch sections of hair at Susan's chin working around
the side to the back.  Beth had not been using the comb at all, simply
cutting with the scissors as the hair fell, resulting in a somewhat
choppy, uneven line. Whether imagined or not,  all Susan could do was
close her eyes and listen to  the snipping of the scissors and the dull
thud the heavy, damp shorn locks made as they fell to the floor.  In less
than a minute, Beth had finished and spun Susan around to face herself in
the mirror.
        "There you go, sweetie. The hard part's all over.  Now we'll have
some real fun and make you look pretty."  Seeing Susan's teary eyes in the
mirror, Beth continued: " Believe me, you won't have any spare time to
spend fixing your hair, so the shorter it is, the easier it is to care
for." 
Just then the phone rang and Beth walked over to answer it at the desk
near the entrance to the salon.  Susan was left staring at her reflection
in the mirror, trying to adjust to her changed appearance.  Looking far
from glamourous, her wet hair hung heavily down to her chin where it had
been so abrubtly cut off.  Having cried out her tears, Susan could only
look sadly at the collection of long pieces of dark hair that lay on the
floor where Beth had cut them off the back of her hair.  As she
contemplated what the next painstaking step would be,  Susan began to
envision her remaining hair precision cut and dried in a chin length bob
and began to feel better about the whole ordeal.  What remained, she
assumed, was to even out the ends and simply make sure that it was above
the collar. "Sorry to keep you waiting, dear." Beth said as she returned
to a position behind Susan's chair.  " Now, as I said the traumatic part
is over, so let's start to cut in the style".  Beth started to comb
Susan's hair straight down all around and began pinning it up section by
section until all that remained loose was the hair at the back of her
head, left hanging free from her ears down. Susan, of course, could'nt see
this but she knew that to get an even line with a bob the hair had to be
cut in sections.
        "Kathy,  can I borrow your clippers?"  Beth said to the other
hairdresser.  Susan's ears perked up at this and she watched Beth in the
mirror walk over to the other station.  Natalie was now in the chair
having what was left of her hair evened out to a length even with her ear
lobes.
"Sure," the other hairdresser replied, " which guard do you want? There's
a two on them now."  Beth looked over at Susan and said " That'll do. I'll
get your trimmer from you after." Picking up the clippers, Beth walked
back towards Susan, plugging them in to the outlet then moved around
behind her.  Susan said nothing, but wondered why the clippers were needed
now.  She expected Beth to use scissors to even out her bob and maybe
clean up her neckline with the electric clippers when the cut was
finished, but now she assumed that she would use them during the cut. 
Although a little concerned,  Susan had read in a magazine how they were
used on bobs to get a precise line.  She watched tentatively in the mirror
as Beth combed her hair down in back.
        "Now like I said sweetie, you're not going to have much time to
spend getting ready in the morning while your on your training course.
This cut will be dry in minutes and it should look much better than a
boring old bob.  Now tilt your head forward, that's it." Beth said,
pushing Susan's head forward. Susan's eyes went wide when she realized
what was happening.  Frozen in panic, she winced as she felt the clippers
run up the back of her head.  The buzzing continued as Beth sheared away
the lengths of hair up to a level even with the tops of Susan's ears.
After the first swath had been cut, Susan heard Beth:
        "Whoops! I guess I could have gone with a 'three' guard!  Well,
its going to be short but you won't need a haircut for a while." She
continued buzzing the hair at the nape of her neck and put the clippers
down.  Susan lifted her head up to look in the mirror and saw the other
girls gaping open mouthed at her shorn locks piled up on the floor. She
fought the temptation to run her hands over the stubble at the back of her
head while Beth picked up her scissors and comb again. Starting on the
left side of her head, she let down one of the sections that had been
pinned up.  Combing it straight down, Beth then snipped a line across even
with the tops of her ears.  Susan could only watch in dismay as what was
once her chin length bob fell onto her shoulders, into her lap and land on
the floor with the piles of hair already there.  The hairdresser continued
to cut away, creating a bowl shape on top of  the sheared nape.  Susan
once again began getting used to it as it dried, thinking it looked kind
of cute. Sort of a Kimberly Foster cut.  All the while, Beth just kept
unpinning sections, combing them down then cutting them off. The hair had
begun to dry as she kept cutting her tresses to fall into the straight,
thick cap around her head, causing Susans hair to shrink up to an even
shorter length.  Susan watched in the mirror as the cut hair fell onto her
shoulders, in her lap and on the floor.  After what seemed like an
eternity, Beth stepped back and combed her hair straight down all around
and admired her handiwork. "My, my," she said walking around the chair and
combing the cap of newly shorn hair, " that looks pretty good, but it's
still kind of thick though. I think I'll thin it out some.  I know you
won't mind now, seeing as it's real short."
        Susan could do nothing but watch patiently as Beth pulled her
thinning shears out of a drawer and move around behind her.  Scooping up
thick sections of the hair at the top of her head, she held them up and
crunched the shears three times at each section.  Susan's eyes went wide
as huge clumps of dry, dark hair were combed out after each snip of the
thinning shears. Beth kept combing out the top sections and throwing the
cut hair haphazardly on the floor as she moved around Susan.  Her hair was
totally dry now and lay lifelessly flat against her head in a shapeless
boy-cut, lacking the initial femininity of the bowl cut she had before the
episode with the thinning shears.  Beth finished the cut by snipping her
bangs straight across her forehead an inch above her eyebrows and then
combed in a side part.  Susan could not believe the change in her
appearance."Well sweetie, just about done.  We'll just clean up your
hairline and you're set to go".  With that, Beth picked up her small
rechargeable clippers, walked behind Susan, pushed her chin to her chest
and switched on the trimmers.  Susan cringed as she first heard the high
pitched buzz then felt the nibbling teeth of the razor on the nape of her
neck shaving the stubble left by the number two guard down to bare skin.
Beth trimmed the hairline straight across the back of her neck and angled
up towards her ears on each side.  Susan could only watch helplessly while
the hairdresser used the clippers to define the hairline around her ears. 

End Part One/two