Buzzed Buzz

Weekly special at the Red and the Black: A shot of whiskey and a haircut, a steal at twelve bucks. Last Tuesday, that sounded pretty good to my friend and I: He was in the market for a haircut; I was in the market for a drink.

Turns out, we weren't alone. By the time we arrived at the bar, around nine, about ten names were already on the waiting list for the bar's solo stylist. It was clear that getting into the barber's chair before close was going to be a long shot, so we decided to knock back a few beers and then cut our losses.

Still, my friend wasn't ready to abandon his search for an inebriated shearing. Why go to a bar to get a drunk haircut when you can BYOB on your lunch break? Yesterday afternoon, my friend headed out to Mario's Barber Shop at the National Press Building–with a shot-sized bottle of Jack Daniels in pocket. "I poured the airplane bottle into the end of my Diet Coke and downed it before heading downstairs to Mario's," he says. "I realized later that I could have gone to the bar upstairs and actually gotten a shooter. No matter."

Unlike at the Red and the Black, this drunk cut came with zero wait time. "The guy who looked like a Mario was engaged," my friend says, "but his associate was wide open. I sat down, and within less than 20 minutes I was out the door with a very solid haircut."

One downside: Your own tipsy cut can come at a significant markup from the Red and the Black's Tuesday offering. My friend ended up shilling out nearly 30 dollars for his: Three bucks plus tax for the Jack, 20 for the cut, and a fiver for tip. All in all, "having a nice buzz while getting a haircut is a very pleasant experience," he says. "Just like having a buzz and doing anything, I guess."

"I'll be returning for my next haircut in 3 or 4 months," he adds. And the booze? "It depends how busy I am that day."