What is a necessity?

Webster defines a necessity as

1) The quality or sate of being necessary
2) Something necessary: requirement
3) Neediness.

During our fast we have had to decide what was a necessity. For us we have based that decision on definition 3) neediness. Do we need it? A lot of times the answer has been no and a few times the answer has been yes. Then there are the things that fall into a grey area.

Steve asked me "Since we are on this fast can I still get a haircut?" I immediately said yes. I didn't even think about it. But is a haircut truly a "need"?

What is a need?

Now maybe this seems nit picky. Maybe I am being an extremist and blowing things way out of proportion. So here were some things I thought about after the fact and what I determined.

- We could skip the haircuts this month and wait until the fast is over.

- Steve could get out the clippers and try to cut his own hair (which has some amount of risk involved).

- Steve does work as a chef and will need to wear additional head covering if he doesn't cut his hair.

- We do normally budget for things like this.

Around the World

What was still bothering me was that when I take a look at the word necessity and I can't justify a hair cut being a need. It does not nourish body or soul. You can always go another couple weeks without one. However, eventually you will have to get your haircut.

Weather it be a home cut or a salon cut, hair gets cut in every culture around the world. Maybe you don't trade currency for a cut, maybe rice or fruit but it is a basic human activity to be groomed according to cultural standards.

Next time you "need" something think about people around the world, maybe we all have a lot more in common than we thought!