Character Analysis
Robbie is a young guy (twentyish) whom Steinbeck meets out west while staying at a hotel that Robbie's father runs. Apparently, Robbie is a bit of a dandy and pays a lot of attention to his personal appearance. Steinbeck describes him as
a young man of about twenty, dressed in gray flannel slacks, two-tone shoes, a polka-dotted ascot, and a blazer with the badge of a Spokane high school. His dark, shining hair was a masterpiece of over-combing, the top hair laid back and criss-crossed with long side strands that just cleared the ears. He was a shock to me after the ogre of the lunch counter. (3.7.25)
Robbie yearns to be somewhere more interesting than that hotel in Spokane, and so he's super-excited to hear that Steinbeck is from New York (he subscribes to The New Yorker).
Robbie's dad informs Steinbeck that Robbie took a hairstyling course—and Papa Bear definitely does not approve. However, Steinbeck talks up the importance of the hairdresser as a sounding board and adviser to his/her customers. Robbie is grateful for Steinbeck's words, even if he was just B.S.'ing Robbie's "ogre" father.