Clipper burn on a walk-in, did I handle it right?

Had a guy come in last Saturday around 2pm, asked for a skin fade and said he'd had a few beers at lunch. My #0 guard slipped near his temple and left a small nick, started bleeding pretty good. I stopped, applied pressure with a styptic pencil, and offered to finish the fade free, but he just laughed and said it added character. Other barbers in my shop said I should've refused the walk-in once I smelled booze on him, but I think calling it out would've been worse. Do you guys take drunks or send them home, and what's your cutoff?

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1 Comment

the_kevin4d ago

Oh man, I gotta say something here. A few beers at lunch does not make a guy fall-down drunk, and you gotta know the difference. If he was slurring and stumbling, that's one thing, but you even said he just laughed it off and was cool about the nick. That don't sound like a problem customer to me. And here's the thing, if you start turning away every guy who's had a drink before coming in, you're gonna lose a ton of weekend business. Lots of folks grab a beer with lunch on Saturday, that's just normal. Your co-workers are being kinda dramatic about this, honestly. The real mistake was not checking your guard before you started, that nick coulda happened to anyone, sober or not. You handled the actual cut right, pressure and styptic is exactly what you do, and offering to finish free was a good move. Dude was happy, you kept your cool, and nobody walked out mad. I'd say you did fine, just maybe give that #0 a once-over next time before you put it on someone's head.