Celebrating Homogeneity

While the U.S. may celebrate its diversity with such monikers as "the Great American Melting Pot" (I can still hear the School House Rock song in my head), this principle is not a universal constant. For that matter, it is not even truly a constant within the U.S. as anyone who has ever lived in the state of Iowa can attest. Nevertheless, diversity is a concept that is at least viewed with some merits in the U.S. and individuality is a prized possession.

This is not so for life in Korea. I realized this tonight as I went to get my haircut, which has become a bi-weekly, 5 dollar, no-tip-necessary-or-expected ritual. Due to the recent departure of the previous stylist who had grown quite accostumed to cutting a head of hair that was neither black nor completely straight, getting my haircut has become a much more difficult affair. This is where homogeneity is quite beneficial. Displayed on the wall at the barber shop is a set of pictures numbered 1-10. No Korean language is necessary or needed to explain my desired style. Now admittedly, my hair type does not match any of the 10 heads displayed, but I also don't particularly care for any of them. So be it. Anyhow a thought struck me, would a thing such as this ever pass muster in the U.S.? I can hardly imagine walking into any salon where you order your haircut as easily as a Big Mac extra-value meal (yes, these tasks are of equal difficulty in Korea). The problem, however, is not in the shameless similarity of men's hairstyles. Having worked with middle and high school aged students for 5 years tells me that many young adults prefer to blend in rather than stand out and I have seen far too many shaggy, bleached heads of hair attached to an untucked polo shirt, extra-long shorts with a pair of flip-flops to boot. The problem is that in the U.S. people rarely like to advertise that they have chosen to go the way of the many. Imagine the conversations, Person A: "Hey, nice haircut." Person B: "Thanks!" Person A: "Did you get the number 10?" Person B: "No, I did that 2 weeks ago. I went with the number 3 today." Person A: "Hey, me too!"

In reality, most of us choose not to take the less worn path of Robert Frost's traveller. May we find comfort and safety in our anonymity.