News: 13-8-2020 Ivan Winter Column in Vers Beton #2

Ivan Winter is a barber and a playwright whose calm energy and openness makes you feel comfortable when you visit his pop-up barbershop, PEOPLES, which he co-runs with Donn Stone. The shop is currently situated in our  S/ash Gallery.

Read the new column of Ivan in Vers Beton! He reveals more about what people share with him on the barber chair. His customers are making plans to take rest abroad, but Ivan knows he is staying home this summer awaiting to become a father for the first time! 
Link to the Column in Dutch here.

For all our non-Dutch speaking WORMies who are interested, you can read in English below.

Image by: Hilde Speet

“Every morning, six days a week I ride the same route on my scooter to my hairdresser salon: from Rotterdam Central to the Witte de Withstraat. I have seen this route change since the loosening of the government regulations. For weeks there was hardly anyone on the street, but now it is frequently busy. A mouth mask is not mandatory in this part of the city, but I do come across them here and there. It always reminds me of a sci-fi movie.

My first customer greets me with the question: “Do you have a vacation too?”

He takes a seat and tells me that he will catch the plane in a few days. A moment to recover from the difficult period he went through. As a HORECA employee, he had a flex contract, so there was no work for him anymore during the lockdown. As a result, he could no longer pay the rent and he is forced to move back with his parents soon.

Recently I have been hearing more stories like this. I notice that many lives have not been the same since the lockdown. Some of my clients became unemployed during the pandemic or barely got any jobs as a freelancer. Others had a happy relationship at the beginning of this year, but are now back on Tinder.

During the lockdown, I also fantasized about the time I could go to the sun for another week or two. In my daydreams, the aisles of my local supermarket turned into the alleys and parks of Barcelona.

Many Rotterdammers are now taking the risk: they book a return trip to a Greek island or take the car to the South of France. But for me there is no vacation this year: I am about to become a father.

Earlier this year, there was a period when fathers were not allowed to go to the midwife, nor were they allowed to be present in the hospital during the delivery. I am glad that this has changed since then: that I will soon be able to enjoy our little one for the very first moment, is reward enough for me for this difficult year.”