"This brings me to the real purpose for a local barber and that is dissemination of news. The barber is like a news reporter in that he gathers information in large quantity and passes it out in small bites that are short enough to fit into conversations while he is cutting hair. Some barbers have the world's problems figured out and will tell you how to solve them as you sit there as a captive audience. Others will ask questions to fill in the blanks that they don't know about you, your friends or local activities. Once they have it, they provide you with some information in exchange and you leave with less hair and less money but more knowledge. "