The People I Trust: A Science Problem

Max, I like the idea of having . . . us on the banner. I think we can make some changes to that one to make it still fun but more professional -- and maybe have it say "Two Planes in the Asymptote." We should also consider cartoon faces like the vlogbrothers or, eh, getting a better picture of me. That's all I'm going to say there.

And that is adorable, but I don't know if it's a squirrel or a chipmunk or something else.

This post isn't about the people I obviously trust -- that would be no fun. This post is about the people I trust without always considering how much I really trust them. For instance, other drivers on the road and . . . people who cut hair.

I go to Sport Clips to get my hair cut -- feel free to laugh at the irony -- and the people there are pretty good at what they do, which makes sense because they cut hair for a living. But yesterday, I proposed a hypothesis: I trust the people at Sport Clips too much.

Then, I assembled the data in my head:

• For a large portion of their waking hours, the workers at Sport Clips do nothing but cut hair. As George N. Parks said, "Practice makes permanent," and they typically do a good job.
• The only time I ever see these people is when I get haircuts. People who I consciously trust are people I spend time with (preposition).
• People who cut hair have combs, towels, lots of products, and (most notably) a lot of different kinds of blades -- mostly scissors. If one thing goes wrong, there could be an extra hole in my head.
• A lot of times, as people cut hair, they're multitasking -- talking to me or other employees, watching TV, chewing gum, etc. But just because I'm not very good at multitasking doesn't mean that a lot of other people aren't.
• I pay them thirteen dollars every time because I get a three-dollar discount after doing a survey, and then I give them a three-dollar tip.
• Millions of people get haircuts every day across the globe and probably don't consider any of this.

I'm still not sure of my conclusion at the moment. I'll let you know if I ever figure this out, though. And regardless of what happens with my hypothesis, I think I've discovered that I trust people at Sport Clips a lot more than I've ever realized before. Whether or not that's too much, I'm not quite sure. Maybe I'll do some research.