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
Being Charitable
I have really noticed over the past year that I have been trying more and more to be as charitable as possible. I’ve looked around society and see how few people seem to donate anything, without expecting something in return.
Hell, even I’ve committed the same flaw when it comes to charity. I didn’t donate to Obama’s campaign fund until I saw a free shirt was involved. But someone’s run for presidency isn’t quite what I mean by charity, obviously.
I have certainly do my best when it came to friends needing help. I have given one friend money so they could make it through the month with their bills and groceries to feed their kids. I have given another money for a laptop purchase before going to Army boot camp. In those cases, however, I was expecting them to pay me back. I have certainly also loaned money to family as they may need it.
I have also participated in some Charity Auctions. Specifically the Auction to Benefit the Homeless, hosted by my alum; Worcester State College
This year, so far:
- I have donated money to the American Lung Association, in the form of a coworker running up the steps of the Bank of America building in Tampa (Climb Tampa 2009)
- I rode my bicycle for Multiple Sclerosis from Miami to Key Largo, having to raise 300 dollars. (Zimmerman MS Bike Ride “Breakaway to Key Largo” 2009)
- Donated money to Lung Cancer research for Mother’s Day. My mom is an incredible lung cancer survivor. Discovered at stage 3 (American Cancer Society)
As it gets closer to the “holidays” (Christmas), I’ll be donating to Child’s Play Charity as I try to do every year. They are an amazing charity set up by a couple video gamers. Absolutely 100% of the proceeds raised go to Childrens Hospitals all over the world. It was begun, in part, to prove to society that games do not make people violent. The amount that gamers and game companies have donated every year to this charity has been mind-blowing. Always exceeding expectations.
I have done more this year than I typically do in a 5 year period, and I don’t want to stop. I’ve jumped on serve.gov to see what stuff I can volunteer for, and I just want to do more for people who need help. Hell, I’ve been keeping granola bars in my car for homeless people, because it’s food, it’s good for them, and it’s my way of guaranteeing that they’re actually doing what they should be doing with the money by cutting out the middle man. I mean, if I give them a dollar, and they use it to buy liquor, that doesn’t help anything, so why not give them food. They DO carry signs saying “I’m hungry” after all…
What do you do for charity, for your city, for your neighborhood, for your friends?