When Haircuts Were Illegal

So hard to empathize with this article.

Yes, blow-drying hair is a problem (just like talking loudly is), way before covid there was a damning study about airblade hand dryers being disease spreaders compared to paper towels. No, operating at 50% of capacity does not privileges bigger shops, they remain exactly that much bigger and more profitable than small shops as before covid. And I might be in a minority but I really see no issue cutting own hair, I did it before covid and come across other adults who do that, out of habit and lack of vanity not financial difficulty (just like cutting own nails/toenails, etc.).

The only complaint I share is requiring cashless payment. Setting a precedent for denying cash payments seems a bit worse than the inconvenience of missing a haircut. Wearing gloves during or sanitizing hands after handling cash seems very minor in big picture. However, cashless was just a passing note at the end of the article.

Did we learn anything? When the next pandemic comes, will we screw ourselves over again?

Lessee, novel airborne virus of unknown risk although initial indications were more aggressive and risky than a bad flu. No known cure. No known treatment. The words "reefer" and "hospital overflow" in the same sentences. Was it so bloody hard to, maybe, take some thought as to how one's actions might affect others?

I get that HN is a libertarian paradise and that hindsight is 20-20, but geez, are the people you see day-to-day that unreal to you?

It's wild to me that two years later someone actually spent the time to write this article. The pandemic opened my eyes to just how unwilling the average person is to experience even the slightest amount of inconvenience in the face of an unknown threat.

When I read the headline "When Haircuts Were Illegal," I thought:

"Wow, that seems like a pretty basic human right. What's up with that?"

Then I read the article and found out it was about France after the revolution.

At first, I was like: "Dang, France. You're supposed to be all about liberty and whatnot."

But then I started thinking about how hard it is to change people's mindsets, especially when you're trying to get rid of centuries of a monarchical class system. It turns out that changing people's laws is relatively easy compared to changing their hearts.

And then I realized that there are many other common practices and industries that are also illegal in France. Like Uber, Airbnb, and genetically modified foods—even though they're totally legal in most places around the world. That made me think: "Hmm… maybe France isn't so bad after all. They're just doing their own thing."