How old are you?

This is the kind of inappropriate question I'd like to be able to ask people before they cut my hair.

I try to avoid making it too obvious that I am decidedly ageist when it comes to hairdressers, but sometimes it's hard.

The simple fact of the matter is that I want my hairdresser to be old enough to at least remember the 70s. I need them to be able to understand my pop-culture references, and sadly people born after 1985 often have difficulty remembering that TV existed before the 90s.

I don't know how or why this happened, but for some reason people born before 1985 have no problems with watching and appreciating programmes and movies from before they were born, but people born after that date seem reluctant to believe that the world existed before they were around to observe it.

You go to someone in their twenties and say: "I'd like a style kind of like Diana Rigg in the Avengers" and they'll say "yeah, sure" and give you something different. They haven't got a clue what you're talking about, but they aren't going to admit it - they'll just cut your hair. And probably cut it like Uma Thurman's hair in the movie (if they are in their late 20s - the kids in their early 20s probably wouldn't even manage that).

Go to someone in their forties (or, better yet, older) and make the same request, and they'll say "the long version or the short version?"

That's what I want from a hairdresser - someone who understands that some of us would rather be in the past when it comes to our personal style, and is capable of helping us achieve that.