Ah, tsuwm, that was such a cute tale. I'll always remember:

Poofter! Bloody poofter!

I don't even know what a bloody poofter is, but it sounds like such a lovely bit of whimsy and fun!

Now, did barbers do medicine at one time?

And I've completely forgotten McTeague... He was a dentist? Wasn't he? Didn't he do some kind of surgery? Or maybe he was a barber. Was that why barbers' poles had red on 'em? Because of the blood?

Everything's becoming so mixed up in my brain. But I do like the sound of poofter.

Barber regards,
Wordwhirled