kerewin's whine cellar

The Cutting Of The Hair

So last Friday I got my hair cut. Now I love my hairdresser, she is amazing. I met her four years ago in Spanish 101, let's call her Edna (not her real name). We became friends and I helped tutor her in class. I had already decided I was unhappy with my then-hairdresser and she offered me a cut in exchange for my help. Turned out to be the best cut of my life. So, I kept going. This lady is clearly a pro and charges pro rates. I never asked her for a discount, but I was never sad when I was consistently charged half-price.

Rewind to a couple of months ago when I last got my hair cut. Edna is a thin woman, tall and very good looking. I noticed when she was cutting my hair that she had a little pooch. It looked a lot like the stomach of a co-worker friend who turned out to be pregnant. Edna also acted sorta odd the whole time. At the end, when I paid she asked me for my mailing address, when I asked her why, she said, "You'll see." However, I never saw, as I never received any correspondence. So Friday when I arrived I expected either a ring from her live-in, or a big belly.

She had neither. As I was waiting my turn in the chair, I did see her lean over and it seemed she was wearing low, low jeans with a long shirt, buttoned tightly over a slightly larger pooch than before. It seemed like camouflage. So I was called over, we hugged, she did a shoulder-only hug. She asked me what was new with me and in turn I asked, "What's going on over there," and I motioned in circles to her stomach. Mistake. BIG mistake.

Yeah. Not so pregnant. In fact, totally pissed off that I would make that allegation. So I tried to backtrack. "You were just odd the last time I was here, I didn't know what to think. I guess I expected something to be hugely different this time." We sort of made uncomfortable small talk through the hair washing. It was horrible. I kept thinking I should ask if she wanted me to leave. But we got back to something like comfortable. I kept apologizing. Turns out someone many months before had asked her the same question, totally out of the blue.

She asked me later, "Well that was rude, has anyone ever asked you if YOU were pregnant?"

I thought a long time about it, "No, not seriously, however people look at me and ask me how many kids I already have."

That made her laugh and she told me next time that I should tell people I have six or seven. "Then make up names."

We started discussing the things that people just say to you, because they assume. It really gets Edna's goat when people ask her where she went to college. Since she went to a very upscale beauty college, she tends to get a little defensive. She totally went off on some innocent guy one night and that's when she realized that she had to find some humor in the thing. She says, "I went to Northgate State," now. (Northgate is a popular mall near us.) As I left she made sure to tell me that she wasn't mad at me, and not to obsess about it all day. Except when I went to pay, I was charged the full amount for my hair cut (In addition to buying shampoo, conditioner, and a curling lotion to the tune of $75! Yeek, guilt is expensive!). So I was pretty sure I went from friend to client with one question.

I obsessed about it for hours, no matter what she said. I was even going to post this story here with questions from the gallery about what to do to mend this rift, if anything. Later on, I was out to dinner with my parents who were visiting and noticed I missed a call on my cell and had a message. I was worried it was a work issue and listened to it.

"Kerewin, it's your pregnant friend Edna. Just kidding! I just realized that I forgot to tell the front desk that you got the 'friend discount' and so you paid the full price. I am SO sorry! I wanted to make sure you didn't think it was because of what you said. Call me back if you want to talk." I didn't call her back because I am scheduled for a color on Friday.

Should I bring a shower gift?

Posted by kerewin at August 31, 2005 10:37 PM