I Really Need a Haircut

I wanted to get a haircut on Thursday.

I haven't had my hair cut in about 6 months or more. That's not too uncommon. I usually let it grow until I can't stand it anymore and I go find a place that I can walk in and get it cut - right then. I was going to Great Clips in Tucson. I think I know where one is here, but it's way across town and I thought I could find someplace closer.

Then when I got in the car I remembered I needed to get black shorts for the soccer games on Saturday. So I went to Target and found a pair for $13 for Holly. I found a pair of shorts for Julia in the boy's section for $6. That kind of irked me.

I thought I'd go to Walmart and see if they had a better selection. If they did, I was prepared to take back the expensive ones to Target. Walmart didn't have a better selection, but I did find some shorts for Alan. Plus I noticed they had a hair salon, so I thought I'd get my hair cut.

I walked in and asked the 2 girls in there if they took walk-ins for a hair trim. One of them said yes and the other walked off. I said that was great, could I get my hair trimmed? She said yes, and to go sign in in the front. It was between 11:30 and 12:00 and they'd had 2 customers since 9:30. Maybe that was the first clue.

I followed the girl back to a chair where she asked if I wanted a shampoo. I said no, just a wet cut. I just wanted a trim. So she wet my hair down with a spray bottle. "This is just water with some leave-in conditioner - FYI," she told me. Then she explained to me how to use the mirror to see what she was doing in the mirror behind me.

I thought maybe she was new.

She combed through my hair and showed me that she would take about an inch off the bottom. She asked if that was okay. I said yes. She said she was going to use that cut to cut the rest to match.

Great.

I still thought maybe she was new.

So she cut the bottom layer of my hair. She asked if I'd come in for a haircut specifically or was just out. I said I'd left home specifically to get a haircut and remembered an errand that brought me there. That was the end of conversation.

When she'd cut the bottom layer she told me to use the mirror to see it. Then she removed my cape and stepped away from the chair.

I wasn't sure what was going on. She said okay and started to the front counter. So I followed her. She said she wasn't going to charge me for a full cut. That would be $9. A full cut would have been $15. She maybe should have charged me $3 if she was really going to be fair.

I didn't want to be rude so I tipped her a dollar.

I am so stupid sometimes.

I walked away through the store thinking that I should really go back and tell her that a trim means I want her to cut ALL the layers of my hair and not just the bottom layer. But I was angry at her. And I didn't want her cutting my hair anymore. So I left. And wondered just how stupid was I going to sound to the girl in Great Clips as I explained that I wanted a haircut but not the bottom layer, because the girl at Walmart had already done that layer for her?

I considered going home and cutting it myself. I realized that my cheap haircut was about to be twice what I wanted to spend.

I headed toward home. Then I remembered a place that's across from my neighborhood. It's not a chain salon, but they take walk-ins. So I stopped there.

There were 3 girls there chatting, one was sitting in a dryer chair eating what looked like tater tots. Maybe there was a girl in the back getting her nails done. The girl eating asked if she could help me. I said I wanted a haircut.

I looked around the front while she thought about answering me. Then she said alright. And I noticed that the front desk looked a little like something was missing on it and that a cut there was $16 or $18. Then she asked if I'd mind waiting.

I smiled.

Would it be better if I came back? I could go eat lunch and come back later. She said yes. She asked - about an hour then? Okay. Great. What's your name? Okay. We'll look for you then.

You have got to be kidding me.