Haircuts for the Balding

The other day when I was having my hair cut, the woman who was snipping and fussing around my head mentioned that the salon owner, Ted, who is himself basically bald, charges men the same flat rate for a haircut regardless of how much hair they have. She felt that this was unfair, and he should perhaps have a sliding scale.

I remarked that this would be similar, emotionally, to asking a customer whether a senior discount is appropriate. There are some discounts for which some people would prefer not to regard themselves as qualified. "The customers aren't really paying too much," I said. "It's more like a dignity surcharge."

"Vanity surcharge, you mean," she replied.

It occurred to me that perhaps vanity and dignity are more closely related than they appear on the surface.