Mario Marseglia Sr., my grandpa, when he was a barber on Park Ave. other barbers would have chairs in his shop. He would occasionally leave the shop with his friends for a 'cup of coffee' in the afternoon. While he never explicitly told me, knowing Grandpa he was probably drinking something a bit stronger than coffee.
One day, while he was giving one of his customer's a haircut, his customer said to him, " You know Mario, every time you go out and the other barber is here. When he's done he tells me he has to go to the bathroom and to leave the money on the cash register. Every time."
Grandpa counted the towels. Each customer was given three clean towels. One clean towel around the neck, one clean towel for the shave and one clean towel after the shave. By counting towels and money he would know how many heads had been cut. Grandpa also did all his laundry at home.
This made grandpa furious. So furious in fact, that the next time he saw the barber he cursed him, threw him out of his shop and threw his tools into the middle of Park Avenue, Cranston.
After that, Grandpa had only one chair in his shop.