Encounter 24: The Twenty-first Dreadlock Removal

After two dreadlock removals in quick succession, I started packing up my backpack, ready to move on to the next place. Another group of tourists appeared from along the lake. One lady responded to my cheery greeting and asked me the usual sort of questions. Another lady came and joined her and was informed about how wonderful it was that I had come all the way from England. A third lady came along and it was she who made a passing comment about my hair.

The Gathering Crowd

I got my scissors out of my pocket, and told her what I wanted her to do.

She was a little surprised, but seemed interested in cutting off a dreadlock.

However, when I asked her to cut it off from the root, she suddenly insisted that she couldn't cut it.

 I begged and pleaded with her, and when I knelt down and proffered her a root to cut, she finally relented, and did the deed, taking two cuts of the scissors to get through the dreadlock.

 When I asked the lady what to do with the dreadlock, she immediately said, "I don't need it!" I think it was one of her friends who suggested that I hang it from the entrance of the nearby pier. This seemed to be a very good idea. Being on a strict timetable, the tour group suddenly had to leave, so I turned and went to the pier entrance where I tied the dreadlock onto a diagonal loop at the corner of the structure.

 There, as far as I know, it still hangs, fluttering slightly in the breeze.

I left the lake, and traveled on in search of the next opportunity for dreadlock removal.