July 8, 2016
Dear Everyone:
A few years ago, I decided to stop
coloring my
hair. It had occurred to me
that looking younger did not
necessarily make you feel
younger. It was time to
start looking my real age.
Beginning in January, 2013, I told our hairdresser, “Mabel”, to continue
cutting the hair every four weeks, but to leave off covering the gray
with “dark brown”. This did
not please “Mabel” only in part because she was, according to her, a “colorist”,
meaning a hairdresser who specialized in coloring hair.
It also meant giving up the $60 per visit that she made apart
from the haircut, which was also $60.
We first encountered “Mabel” when we were going to a previous
hairdresser, “Linda”. Both
“Linda” and “Mabel” worked at a salon in
Walnut
Creek. They were not
employees of the salon, but rather independent operators who simply
rented space there.
The establishment provided workstations, shampoo bowls, towels along
with the laundry machines to keep the towels cleaned, someone to sweep
the floors and so on, including a front desk to handle appointments and
such. But each hairdresser
set her or his own prices and schedule.
When “Linda’s” health became difficult, she turned her client
base over to “Mabel” and that’s how we became “Mabel’s” clients.
In time, “Mabel” grew tired of paying rent to the salon.
She also complained that their front desk kept “messing up” her
appointments. So she decided
to move out and start her own business.
She remodeled part of the garage at her home into a “one-person-salon”
complete with a shampoo bowl and chairs.
She also claimed to have checked with her neighbors that a “few
extra cars” in her driveway would not cause them any inconvenience.
She even invested in some “one-size-fits-all” shirts to use as
smocks for the clients.
According to “Mabel”, this was a “win-win” for both her and the clients.
She could stop paying the salon and her clients could come to her
“whenever” it suited them, rather than adhering to the salon’s rigid
time schedule. If someone
was going to attend an important social function and needed her hair
done the same afternoon, “Mabel” would be available.
And it was all still in Walnut Creek, which was convenient for “Jeannie”
and me. We would come
together, or meet there, on a Saturday, then have lunch or do some
shopping.
Over time, however, we began to notice that the “schedule” was more for
“Mabel’s” convenience than ours.
I would always make our appointment eight weeks in advance, since
we went every four weeks.
But the time that we wanted to come was not always available, even
though there was plenty of space in the calendar.
“Mabel” would block out certain times for other customers who
hadn’t necessarily made their appointments yet.
And she was always “nudging” us towards the end of the day.
So we tried making the appointment later in the day, after lunch and
shopping. But that didn’t
suit “Mabel” either. She
wanted us at the end of her
afternoon, depending on when the rest of her clients were done.
I suspect this tendency had something to do with her complaints
about the salon “messing up” her appointments.
They probably thought “open time slots” were, like, you know,
“open”. Frankly, it was
becoming a bit of a hassle, but “Jeannie” wanted to stay with “Mabel”
because “Jeannie” is still having her hair colored and “Mable” is, after
all, a “colorist”.
In the meantime, I had retired and was enjoying life in the slow lane.
And it occurred to me that I no longer needed to keep my hair
short. When I was working, I
needed “wash-and-wear” hair that took little to no time to deal with in
the ever-so-early hours of the morning.
But now I take my morning shower whenever I darned well feel like
it and shampoo my hair accordingly.
Sometime last year “Mabel” decided to work on hair only two weekends
each month. Unfortunately
for us, this coincided with our Knitting Group meetings in
Martinez.
It was all to accord “Mabel” more time for her other endeavors,
mostly get-rich-quick schemes.
During the housing boom of the early 2000’s she was busy
flipping houses.
She even obtained a
real estate
broker’s license to cut out the middleman and keep the commission
for herself.
She also “invented” a caddy to hold
hair extensions for styling and began an energetic advertising
campaign to sell them across the country.
My personal favorite was when she opened a storefront “studio” to
teach pole dancing
to middle-aged suburban housewives who were bored with
Pilates and looking
for a “more fun” way to exercise.
In January of this year, “Mabel” wanted to take some vacation time.
Not that I mind, since I’ve been on “permanent vacation” for a
number of years and enjoying it tremendously.
But she rearranged a bunch of appointments and apparently forgot
our eight-weeks-in-advance reservation, leaving the both of us out in
the cold, so to speak.
That’s when I decided to go ahead and let my hair grow out.
“Jeannie” and “Mabel” could adjust their own times with each
other. “Jeannie” reports
that “Mabel” was hurt that I just stopped getting my hair cut without
discussing it with her in advance.
As if.
It’s been six months now and my hair had been merrily growing in all its
salt-and-pepper glory. It is
currently at that halfway stage:
Too long to be short; too short to be long.
But it’s just about long enough to pull back into a
ponytail of sorts.
And I automatically get the
Senior Discount at restaurants.
Which is definitely a “win-win”.
Love, as always,
Pete
| Previous | Next |