How important are you? So ­important that only other important ­people are permitted to speak to you? So eminent your hair must be snipped in monastic silence?

I ask because hair stylist Kati Hakomeri has introduced a “silent service” at her salon, Parturi Kati, in Helsinki. Clients can book the online option: “A haircut without talking. After the consultation you can be on your own, recharge your batteries and relax”. Hakomeri says she’s an introvert herself, and her ­clients could be busy professionals or exhausted mothers.

What’s interesting (and perhaps telling) is how the idea of the silent chop has been embraced in some quarters as a long overdue liberation from a terrible ordeal. As in: finally to be granted some peace – a moment of serenity in my arduous existence!

Is a little perspective in order? I doubt people’s stylists have been demanding their views on The Iliad as they plug in the hair-straighteners.

It turns out that silent haircuts have been around for a while: there are salons offering the service from Australia to North Carolina. A couple........

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