Til death us do part might mean something slightly different if you're in the hairdressing trade.
In any case, there's something strangely addictive about life as a specialist men's hairdresser.
Take John Alexander. After nearly 50 years in the job, he has absolutely no plans to retire.
Mr Alexander, (65), of Bond Street Hairdressers, Dunedin, still gets a buzz out of the work, while the clippers hum.
"It just absolutely amazes me what people say."
Much of the time, the conversation turns to sport - congenial enough, given he has fairly wide sporting interests, having played junior and senior football for Caversham, and being a former Otago snooker representative - but the real surprises come with other topics.
Some clients have a finely tuned ear for gossip.
And quite a few are frank about their private lives.
More sensitive topics have included the occasional marital catastrophe, and prospects for a new job after becoming redundant.
"You get people who tell you a lot of personal things.
"Because you're not related to them and virtually a stranger compared with their family, they're more open with you."
Mr Alexander has been in the wars himself in recent years.
In 2002 he took three months off to have surgery for bladder cancer, and to recover before heading back to work.
Further related surgery last year required another three-month break.
He is in pretty good health these days, although a hernia procedure in August required three weeks off.
Mr Alexander, who works alone, has been gratified to find that despite his health-related breaks, most of his clients quickly returned after he reopened his doors.
In fact some of his clients have been turning up for 40 years.
Many are more like old friends.
Times have changed since 1958, when, straight from Kings High School, Mr Alexander first entered the trade as a 15-year-old hairdressing apprentice.
In those days much of the hair was cut fairly short, with most older clients opting for short back and sides and younger clients trying some other styles, including the flat-top.
Hairdressing, he says, was then in transition toward the much longer hair styles of the '60s and '70s, the latter reflecting strong influences from the Beatles and hippie generation.
Back in the 1950s, the fine mist of bay rum spray was ever present and there were about 30 specialist men's hairdressers in Dunedin.
These days the bay rum is seldom used and Mr Alexander believes there are only seven specialist hairdressers left, including some other stalwarts, like Selwyn Grave, in Moray Place.
Over the years he has learned to be a good listener, as well as something of a psychologist.
He is still on "a big learning curve" about the job, and has no plans to give up.
"Working all those years with the public, dealing with people all the time, you can't just chop it off and forget about it. It's been a huge part of my life."
