Toronto barber says client couldn't afford haircut in 'heartbreaking' TikTok: 'Times are tough'

A Toronto barber went viral on TikTok after sharing a story from work that "shook" him — and forced him to reflect on the cost of living in Canada.

Peter Gosling, owner and director of Glassbox barbershops and education in Ontario and B.C., took to the app on Wednesday with a candid story about a client in need.

"Something happened to me today and it kind of shook me," Gosling said in the TikTok video.

"This is a client I've been cutting for a long time, and halfway through the service he just starts crying. And I'm like, 'What's up dude? Are you alright?' and he's like, 'Man, I don't even know if I can afford to pay for this haircut.'"

Gosling said the client was looking at his banking and thought he had it in his budget before the appointment. "He's like 'Dude I can't afford to get groceries, I can't afford my mortgage right now, I can't afford to put my kids in stuff."

At that point, Gosling told him to not worry about the haircut — he'd do it for free.

"This is a grown a— man who's got a good job, his wife's got a good job, he's got two kids at home and this guy can't pay the bills," Gosling claimed.

"Everyone out there is struggling. It's very very difficult to live out here in Ontario and in Canada — it is expensive."

At the time of publishing, the video garnered more than 100,000 views and stirred up hundreds of comments. Many of them were positive, praising the barber for the gesture.

"Thank you for covering his haircut. That was awesome of you!," one person commented.

"Real people help people but honestly we are all struggling," another added, while someone pointed out, "The fact that your client felt safe enough to express his raw emotions speaks volumes about your energy."

One TikTok user said, "this post is so real. Makes me not feel alone in my struggles. A lot of people are facing things like this in Canada. It's heartbreaking."

Some comments on the other hand questioned why that client even showed up to the salon if he couldn't afford it.

However, Gosling tells Yahoo Canada "it was an unfortunate event."

'The reason I did it'

The expert barber said in an interview his client simply mismanaged his budgeting, and only realized he couldn't afford it once he was already in the chair, looking at his banking.

"I know this person and he just was straight-up honest with me. And he was upset, he was visibly upset," Gosling recalled. "I was just like, 'Well, don't worry about it. Let's get the haircut done, you need to look good for work.'"

He said it wasn't about just doing a good deed, it was about making his client feel valued when he's struggling. And, his business is doing well so it's "no skin off my back" to do that.

Gosling admitted his business struggled during the COVID-19 pandemic, and even though he hasn't fully recovered yet, his stores are open and his staff are working. Offering one free haircut, is "no skin off my back," he said.

"The reason I did it is because no one deserves to feel that way; no one deserves to feel undervalued and everyone has troubles and has made mistakes."

Gosling added, "there's no reason that someone should be in a situation where they need to feel embarrassed because they don't have something."

He also explained it's a part of him being in the service industry, "to take care of people."

After his video went viral, Gosling said the majority of feedback has been "pretty positive," adding that means "there's a lot of people feeling the same way."

He hopes the client he helped out will eventually "pay it forward" with another good deed, and he wants the same for those who liked his video.

"People should just be nice to each other at this point in time, because everyone's feeling the heat and no one deserves to feel any different than anybody else."

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