So after work last night, I went to the barbershop to get my haircut. The beard was getting a little unruly, last week's shape up was starting to unravel, and I needed my barber to make me feel and look less Artestian. When I walked into the shop, my barber informed that he had one more person to tend to before he got me, and I said no problem. The tv was on, I had emails to navigate through on my phone, so I had no problems waiting.

As my barber was accepting the tip from the previous client, his phone rang, and he initially struggled to locate where it was. At first I paid it no mind, and then I recognized the ringtone. It was from Sex and the City. In my mind, I was like, "What the f**k is this? But I didn't dare say anything because I needed a haircut, not only today, but many many days in the future. Biting the hand that cuts me (so to speak) would not be the way to go. Still, I did not understand why a 50 year old, allegedly straight man with locs, had a Sex and the City ringtone. What made it even more puzzling is that none of the other barbers even flinched. I don't know whether they were too busy with their clients, or maybe they simply didn't hear it. Or maybe they didn't recognize the ringtone. But I did. Not because I like the show (I can't stand it), but because I have a Pavlovian reaction to change the channel or leave the room when I hear it.

Anyway, when I got in the chair, I HAD to bring it up, but it had to be done in a tasteful fashion. I wanted to hear his explanation, but I didn't want to call too much attention to it. I asked him about it, and he didn't deny it, and he even started smiling, and I left it alone. Something was/is clearly wrong there. I don't have the most masculine ringtone ever invented on my phone, but it damn sure isn't a show geared towards women and ghey men. And someone mentioned to me that maybe that is his ringtone for when his girlfriend calls. That is still unacceptable. I have a ringtone for my lady, and its Maxwell. Sure he's feminine, but the song masks.

It occurs to me that maybe I'm too old to have ringtones on my phone. It also occurs to me that this rant could quite possibly be interpreted as homophobic. It is not. Its falls on the pro-masculine side.

But like I said, I can't go anywhere, so I just have suck it up. Luckily for me, I have a blog where I can vent sans consequences. And now, I present the main ringtone for my phone..

Angela (the theme from Taxi) - Bob James