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He knew Otero was already giving free haircuts to veterans, so
the two of them got together and
came up with the idea.
Sometimes, it works.
Otero says he received an anonymous letter from one of his customers thanking him for helping
unemployed members of the community. Recently, one of Otero’s
customers who owns a business
sent him one of these letters, and
though he wasn’t looking to hire
at the time, he was willing to pass
Otero’s recommendations on to
other managers in his industry.
“I got this card and he was
thanking me and saying all these
nice things about me,” Otero says.
“He didn’t sign the card and I was
trying to figure out who he was,
but somebody got a job, and knowing that is always a good feeling.”
Otero stays relatively humble
about what he does, but on occasion it’s even impossible for
him to ignore the real effect his
help has on patrons. Though he
prefers not to mention them by
name, he recalls one “regular”
whose luck changed after stepping foot in Otero’s shop.
“He had been out of work for
a long time and was struggling to
get a job,” Otero says. “His whole
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life was falling apart — his wife
wanted a divorce and his finances
were all gone.”
Otero continued to give the
man haircuts and kept in touch as
things started to turn around.
“A couple of months later, he
came in and told me that he found
a job,” Otero says. “He couldn’t
get his marriage back, but now he
could start making payments towards his kids’ college tuition.”
I got this card and he
was thanking me and saying
all these nice things about
me. He didn’t sign the card,
but somebody got a job, and
knowing that is a good feeling.”
Otero became friends with