Why Bother?

This morning I made a visit to a place that I dread only slightly less than going to the dentist-- the salon. Call me crazy, but I HATE getting my hair cut. I hate having to pay money to make small talk with a complete stranger while she complains about how thick my hair is and yanks my hair out by the roots as she tries to detangle it. Afterward, if I'm lucky, you can barely tell any difference in my hair. If I'm not so lucky-- well, I'm sure you have all had bad haircuts before, so you can relate to what a devastating experience that is.

Twice in my life (only twice) I have had the superlative good fortune to come out of the salon with my hair looking fantastic after being cut, even better than I had dreamed. But that is such a rare experience that I don't even hope for it anymore. Today I had extremely low expectations. Though one of my two wonderful haircuts was given in the area I live in (and that talented stylist may even still be around), her price is way beyond my means at the present moment. $50 for just a cut is a little steep. So I opted to go the route of the Walmart hair place, figuring I just wanted a trim so I wasn't risking much. Even if the stylist made an "oops" and cut off five inches instead of the two I asked for, it wouldn't be that bad since my hair is all the way down my back again. (Not really my length of choice, but my husband pleaded with me to leave it this long.)

Besides, Walmart is cheap, right? And cheap is kind of necessary right now.

So I dropped by Walmart after volunteering in M's class this morning and asked for a shampoo and a cut. Literally, that's what you get. While the stylist was washing my hair, she asked me hesitantly if I wanted conditioner. That kind of floored me for a minute. OK, I know I'm not a frequent customer of salons, but it seemed to me that they usually use conditioner when they wash your hair, without stopping to ask. Then she hurried on to explain that they charge $1 extra for conditioner.

Oh. Well, I had to opt for the conditioner because I didn't really feel like sitting through a torture session when she tried to comb my hair out after only shampoo.

The next topic was the usual. "Your hair is SO thick!" she exclaimed. Yes, yes, I know. Actually, my hair has been coming out in extra handfuls lately, enough to have me kind of concerned. My hair is definitely getting thinner, but you'd never know by her reaction. Oh well. The hair-falling-out was next to get an exclamation. As she combed through my hair, she held up a wad of my hair and asked if this was an everyday occurrence, the surprise in her tone evident.

At this point, I took a deep breath and reminded myself it would be over soon. To my surprise, it actually was over soon. She quickly trimmed all my ends, confirmed that I was trying to grow out my bangs and I didn't want any layers before cheerfully remarking, "Well, you're all done then!" I guess you don't even get a cursory once-over with the blow dryer anymore, or any attempt at a style.

$20 later I took my wet hair and pulled it up into a bun myself as I headed out into the store. I think next time I'll wash it myself, make Terence trim the ends, and save myself the money. At least Terence won't gripe about my hair being too thick.