Madison's take on Buzz Cuts

Banff: Beauty & Buzz Cuts
By Madison Busker

We left my friend Jen’s house in Calgary, Alberta around mid day on Monday for Banff National Park. It would be a nice treat for us after days of driving across the American and Canadian plains. The preceding day, we had driven from Regina, Saskatchewan to Calgary, Alberta. I have never been so thankful for cruise control in my entire life. I set the Element at around 70 MPH (110 kilometers for our Canadian friends) and didn’t touch the steering wheel for 7 hours. Needless to say it was a thrill to see mountains, especially ones with such stature and majesty.

We set our sights on Lake Louise, one of the parks most famous areas, the ‘Old Faithful of Banff.’ It was our first night of camping and we were excited to find such a beautiful and pristine place to sleep. Adjacent to our campsite was a large RV owned and operated by Eric and Monique, a couple from Edmonton who owned the hair salon and spa in their local Westin hotel, and their niece Melissa from Northern Virginia, my home and native land. They invited us over to their campfire. We talked about our homes, the beauty of Banff, and life in general.

After about an hour the topic of conversation quickly changed. Ian said that he was contemplating a buzz cut. Ian to our new friends: “Yo bro and girls, I want to get a number two. I think it will be so easy while camping.” They replied by telling us that they would be happy to give him a haircut free-of-charge. Ian immediately turned to me and said he would only cut his hair if I did. Without thinking, I said sure. The look on Ian’s face was one of surprise and fear. He went first. Once the first stroke of the buzzer went through his long, curly locks we started to laugh hysterically. When Ian was down to just a Mohawk, our Canadian hairdressers pretended their power went out and couldn’t finish the job. He didn’t’ think it was too funny. They finished his head and were ready for mine.

I once had a buzz cut when I was 7 years old. My mom dropped me at the barber shop while she found a place to park. In the 3 minutes it took from drop off to her walking in the shop, I had told the barber to buzz my head. Not knowing how the numbers worked on buzzers, I picked a random number, 2, and before my mom walked in and could say “Nooooooooo” half my hair was gone. I think she might have cried, but I don’t exactly remember. So 16 years later I decided to sport the good old buzz cut again for kicks and to remember one of my favorite summers as a youth. It was exhilarating to shave my head and has made the past week of my trip extremely easy. There is a saying to “Leave only footprints and take only pictures.” At Banff, I left some footprints, a lot of hair, took lots of pictures, and made memories that will stay with me for the rest of my life.