I hate black hair salons. Passionately. Why can't I find a hair dresser who does a good job AND doesn't make me spend all day in the salon? Is that too much to ask in 2014? Here's the story ...
I took a day off after a long work trip to run some errands, go to the doctor and get my hair done. When I tell you my kitchen was the struggle ... I schedule my hair appointment at 9:30 am and a doctor's appointment at 2. Should be plenty of time to do both (so I thought). I pull up to the hair salon, walk through a few inches of snow on the ground only to find that the door is locked and the lights are off. I look at my watch and realize that I am actually 20 minutes late. I had to drive much slower due to the deplorable road conditions (that's a story for another day). I go back to my car and notice that another woman is also waiting in her car. So we wait. Do you know this fool did not show up until 10:15? Ten. Fifteen. My appointment was 45 minutes ago. Thank God I was late and didn't arrive 10 minutes early like I usually do because there is no way in hell I would have waited an hour. Mind you it is 5 degrees outside, so I had to wait in my car, wasting my gas for this fool to stroll in late.
I go into the salon and he is taking his sweet ass time getting set up. By this time there are four of us waiting. Two that needed a wash and set and two more that needed a touch up, including myself. Of course he takes care of the wash & set ladies first to get them under the dryer. I don't get into his chair until 11 am. F'ing 90 minutes after my appointment was supposed to start. He starts chatting me up and shooting the breeze, asking me where I've traveled lately. Never once does he mention why he was late or apologize.
He takes care of my perm and gets me under the dryer. Every few minutes I keep looking at my watch, knowing that I am going to have to leave soon. While I am under the dryer he has to leave to go "take care of something real quick."Ugh! Im frustrated, but lady #4 had to be especially frustrated because he still hasn't touched her hair yet. It is now approaching noon and she and I walked in the door together at 10:15 when his late behind finally showed up.
He finally comes back about 20 minutes later and gets started on #4. As he's finishing up the first lady, my dryer has finished and I am steady looking at my watch like we ain't gonna make it. I absolutely have to leave at 1:15 to give myself time to drive back downtown and arrive a little early to my doctor's appointment. IU Health is serious about their disdain for lateness and I wasn't trying to get caught up. If you are 15 or more minutes late they will make you reschedule your appointment and they will charge you a no-show fee of up to $50. Now this fool is really playing with my money. He wasted my money in gas waiting in the car for half an hour and now he's trying to dip into my HSA. Oh hell naw.
As the clock quickly approaches 1 pm, I pull out my check book and write out a check for the amount I think I should pay for this service. Usually, I ask "how much do I owe ya?" And then I add a fairly generous tip. Not this time. This time he was gonna get what he got and I dared him to question it. Say something I don't like. Sensing my urgency, he asks what time my doctor's appointment was. I tell him the time and politely let him know that I have to go. He asks "you got time for a little curl?" Me: "No. Just cut the back and trim my ends." He does, then again insists that he put a little curl in it. "Sir, I do not have time. Had you shown up on time, then maybe, but now I have to go." So I begrudgingly hand him the check and go get my coat. He gives my a hug like he always does after my appointment and quietly says "Sorry about that sweetie." Sorry about what?! About strolling your ass in here an hour late? About not saying boo about it? About leaving for 20 minutes when you are already way behind? I mean there are so many reasons and I need you to name them all. People are gonna stop thinking they can give this blanket "I'm sorry" BS apologies. Own up to your sh*t. Don't just run around saying I'm sorry just to do the same thing over again because you don't really even know what you are sorry for in the first place. Ugh! Four and a half hours later I am still looking like the struggle (less of a struggle, but a struggle nonetheless) and have to walk out of the salon wearing the same baseball cap I arrived in. Girl, what?!
Now I don't know what to do about going back to this salon. I am very very busy and travel a lot. Sometimes I am only in town for 72 hours and I have to use that time wisely. Tell me where I have time for foolishness (s/o to JB for that gem). I am hesitant to make another appointment, but I know in a few weeks I'm going need to see somebody. My schedule in February is absolutely insane and this BS cannot happen again. I think there is a stretch where I am only in town for 48 hours at a time so there is no room for foolish error. I know that if I decide to go back that I have to tell him how unacceptable this situation was. I would have told him that day, but I truly did not have time. I had to get out of there to get to my doctor's appointment on time. This is the third hair salon I have been to in this city so I really don't want to go through another change in salons, but I can't tolerate this kind of treatment. This fool also has the nerve to ask me to send my friends/co-workers his way (not during this particular visit, but in others). Tha hell if I'm gonna expose my people to this. They are just as busy as I am and there is no way I can honestly recommend him to someone else. What do I look like subjecting a referral to horrible service.
The bright side of it all is that I was able to get a workout in that afternoon because my hair clearly wasn't done so I wasn't ruining my style by sweating in the gym.
So what do y'all think I should do? I need some help on this one cause these naps are returning by the day.
And for all of you natural-haired sistas who are about to tell me that I can solve this problem by going natural, you may keep your seats and that advice. Not gonna happen.
What say you?
PS, someone please caption that photo. I can only imagine what was going through their minds when this picture was taken.
-Run
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