You'd think, based on the low, low price most barbers charge for a haircut, that they aren't nearly as skilled as the black-clad poseurs skulking around the chrome fixtures at that slick Uptown salon. And that the cut you'll get won't be as au courant as the one you'd get at the chain with the beyond-organic rep. Not so, kids. We're sure that there are still some barbers out there who send everyone home looking like either Moe or a Marine, but there are plenty who will make you look every bit as spiffy as Mr. or Ms. $75-Buys-You-an-Hour-of-Flattery-and-Hipster-Pretense. Like Audie Howe, dispenser of the $15, no-appointment needed or taken, haircut. In order to get a barber's license in Minnesota, Audie and his brethren need to know far more than just how to coax a mop into a flattering shape. They need to know the anatomy of the head in detail: the bones of the skull, the arteries, veins, and muscles, and where they all connect. They need to know what makes hair thick or thin, how it grows, how color isn't the only thing that changes as hair grays, even how hair differs from fur. If, after 1,500 hours of apprenticeship, an aspiring barber fails the licensing exam, they can't try again for another year. In the meantime they have to spend hundreds more hours practicing. You still want to pay $55 for the place with the aromatherapist, you go right ahead. It'll just be that much easier to get in to see Audie on a Saturday afternoon.