Obama's Hyde Park barber late to his own election day party

Zariff, the one-named barber with the famous client, was late for the election night party at his decked-out Hyde Park Hair Salon.

It seems that the client needed a last minute trim before his acceptance speech in Grant Park.

He was “very relaxed. Very proud. We prayed,” Zariff said.

“It’s what I saw in his face. I saw the president of the United States. I saw Barack but I saw a president.”

Zariff said he has cut Obama’s hair for 14 years. But tonight, only one chair stood in the shop at 5234 S. Blackstone Ave. The rest had been cleared out to make way for white-clothed tables laden with fried chicken, cole slaw, potato salad, mashed potatoes, collard greens and Remy Martin. And two televisions to watch election returns.

“Our client, our client is about to be the president of the Unites States,” said Ishmael Alamin, the salon’s owner. “They’re toying with our emotions. Nobody expected this.”

Yet the sentiment of skepticism was widespread, as most of the crowd admitted they never expected to live to see a black man become president of the United States.

 Phillip Sinclair, 32, who has been getting his hair cut regularly at the barbershop for the past three-and-a-half months, remembers the last two elections all too well and remained dubious until the very last moment. “Until it happens, you never know.”

“No, I never thought I would see this happen,” said Susan White, a mother of two boys who frequent the shop. White said her whole family had the opportunity to meet Obama at the shop recently. He signed two copies of “The Audacity of Hope” that she had bought for her sons weeks earlier. “When they get older they are going to read that book and realize how lucky they are,” she said.

Zariff said Obama “is the same man who walked in that door 14 years ago.” When asked what he admired most about the president-elect he said, “He’s trustworthy. He’s a man of his word.”

Gerard Edge stood outside the shop with a brand new Cuban cigar to commemorate the historic event. But in this celebratory moment he said he understood the difficulty that lies ahead. “I want him to go ahead and do what his has gotta do,” Edge said. “Which means cutting the budget, getting out of the war and cutting some good programs.”

For Edge Obama’s victory signified a bittersweet unity among Americans. “African-American people have always been tired, but this time the whole America was tired.”

When it became apparent that Obama had won the election, the shop’s publicist, Kenya, gathered the crowd for a prayer. As they joined hands, tears streaming, the people in Obama’s neighborhood shop asked the Lord for his protection and guidance.