Lebowski Barber Salon
Home of the Well-Groomed Dude
My time here in Tampa has been a learning experience for barbershops. I need haircuts (wow, really?) and my first haircut was done in my neighborhood (a majorly black one), and the place I went to clearly didn’t get many white customers, and they didn’t seem to have a pair of scissors anywhere. After that, I ended up getting haircuts down near my parent’s house, but that required planning and timing, as they’re a little far away. I ended up sucking it up and going to a hair salon at the International Plaza, but I wasn’t a big fan that I had to pay 25 bucks just for a trim (which is usually as complex as my haircuts get), when I used to pay 10-15 in MA at an old-school barbershop in my hometown (which has since closed down… sad)
So, about 4 months ago I was driving my usual commute home and I notice that a building had a giant “Now Open!” barbershop sign on it. No information about what barbershop it was or anything like that. So I kept an eye out for it. Eventually I discover that the name of the place is Lebowski Barbershop… immediately making The Big Lebowski connection.
I checked out their website (it’s changed since then), and I was hooked. I mean, I didn’t even realize some of the stuff they had to offer. I basically saw that the “typical” haircut offered at 25 dollars, included:
- 1 Drink (white russians were the first thing that came to my mind)
- Hair Wash/Shampoo
- Robo Rub
- Haircut
- “MAN”-icure
- Shoe Shine
I said to myself “I can finally feel like I’m not wasting money for my haircut,” and I finally went there on Friday. I was so nervous actually with the rate that places have been opening and closing down here due to the economy, that I wasn’t even going to get a chance to check it out. Now that I’ve been there… I don’t think there’s anywhere else I’m ever going to go after this, and that they’ll do pretty well for themselves.
You walk in and there is plenty of seating, and they have pool tables, computers, and an area to practice your golf swing. They serve you your drink (I ended up getting a beer), and chose to just sit around and wait. The hair wash actually involves you standing up, leaning into the “shower” stall, with a gorgeous girl wearing short shorts washing your hair. Your head is right near her, and you’re just looking down at her legs the entire time. After that, you sit in a massage chair for a few minutes with a hot towel on your face (massage chairs sadly don’t do much for me, but it was still relaxing).
You step up onto the “stage” where the barber chairs are, which are soft, large, and comfortable. Towards the end you get your MANicure. I opted against the shoe shine as I had absolutely no reason to get one (with 20 dollar “dress” shoes from Walmart, lol)…
I ended up talking to the owner, who was working at the front desk (assuming he’s the owner, atleast) and I mentioned that I was surprised I didn’t see any White Russians as an option among the drinks, and apparently I just missed it, and he gave me a bottle of it. As I was taking it home “as a souvenir” as he worded it, I told him to sign it, haha. He wrote “dude” on it 
Only thing I’m shocked about (how did the DUDE not think of this?!) was that there were no cupholders on the barber chair. I was surprised, but it didn’t faze my opinion of the place.
I am definitely going there again. If you’re in the area, I highly recommend it
Lebowski Barbershop – http://lebowskicuts.com/
813-221-DUDE
1254 Channelside Drive, Tampa FL
Reduce, Reuse, Recycle
Please Recycle
I have been trying more and more at being more responsible about waste and the size of my carbon footprint. It is rather appalling how little Florida has any decent recycling system in place. Quite a long time ago, I got my parents into the habit of recycling when we lived in Massachusetts, due to the curbside pickup of recyclables. We were one of the first ones in our city to jump into it as soon as they offered it in our neighborhood. Now we simply can’t imagine not being able to recycle and do our part to help the environment through it. Their neighborhood in Florida offers the same service as in MA, with pickups… However, the neighborhood that I lived in, here in Tampa, or neighborhoods that I have looked at to move to, don’t seem to have the option. Not even a place I can walk and drop stuff off in.
Therefore I find myself “forced” to throw away recyclables (primarily plastic bottles and cardboard boxes), as I have no known option. I winced every time I put a bottle in the trash.
It really was my own fault. It shows my laziness when it comes to recycling. I really only seemed to truly want to do it when it was a convenience for me. Storing all of the bottles and other recyclables in containers I’d have to buy myself, and have to research for a place to deliver the recyclables to, seemed to never come to my mind.
I keep all my plastic bags, and try to bring them to Publix (who have receptacles ONLY for plastic bags), but it’s hard to remember to grab the bags to put in the car before heading out to the store. I have kept all the brown paper bags that I have gotten from Whole Foods since I started shopping there. I have a few cardboard boxes still from deliveries to my house, that I would love to be able to recycle if possible rather than toss them into the trash. Perhaps even just using them as storage boxes for around my house.
I am trying to find some decent aluminum water bottles to use (such as SIGG, but it’s a bit expensive), instead of buying bottled water, as much as I despise FL tap water. I got a lunch box (well, it was a giveaway from one of the SXSW events) for my lunches instead of using paper lunch bags. I’m going to start using aluminum foil for my sandwiches instead of the plastic bags that I currently use.
I don’t even know where to begin if I wanted to get back into my recycling groove, however. I need (and will) to sit down and plan out what my options are, and also look into my new (well, not quite yet) neighborhood has any recycling capabilities built into it.
I have made the first steps of getting my work to be more eco-friendly by working with a coworker on our own recycling enforcement. We’ll purchase the bins, and bring the recyclables to a facility ourselves, just to make sure people are recycling. Currently at work, we throw away a LOT of soda cans and shredded paper, every day. We really want to change this.
I hope you’re taking care of your environment, and perhaps my initiative and post will convince you to take more actions to Reduce, Reuse, and Recycle more aspects of your lives.