Standing by his cutting chair in his pale blue barbers shirt he would whisper in my ear “Number 2 on top and 1 and half on the sides with a square back – it’s a haircut not a hairstyle”. This prescription has become uniform over the years.

Last year their shop was relocated to Richmond street just a block south of old location. It wasn’t until the old place was torn down that I realized that Queen Street had another one of its significant landmarks eradicated.
Now starting again from scratch, the new barbershop seems generic, like a blank canvass – empty. I realize that the entropic ‘wall paper’ of the old barbershop was an unassuming documenta of Queen Street culture collected over 25 years. It was a mural of unashamed beauty.

Now Tito faces the north side of Richmond Street. No passers by to comment on, just cars whizzing by on a one way street. The conversations have now turned to the change in weather.