Tuesday, December 6, 2011

"We're all mad here." - Chesire Cat, Alice in Wonderland


Most days I enjoy my job.  I like what I do; I take satisfaction in being able to give a guest what they want. 

I have great coworkers and a manager who is amazing- but there are days that make me wonder at my sanity in choosing any career that deals with the public on a daily basis.

Long story short- Helicopter Mom brings in 3 yr old precious snowflake for a haircut.  

The kid could not sit still to save his life.   Wiggling is one thing, but I swear he found it funny to turn his head at just the moment I was trying to cut his hair.

After spending 30 minutes- and redoing the cut twice- Helicopter Mom leaves satisfied.

Monday morning arrives with Mom calling to inform me that she was not, in fact, satisfied about any of her precious snowflakes’ haircuts with us and Wanted Something Done.

Her best lines:

 “I thought, ‘how hard could it be to cut a 3 yr old’s hair?’”

“I could have done a better job, and I didn’t even finish hair school!”

“I don’t know, but maybe your “girls” need to go back and finish their training.”

“I told her to give me her scissors so I could show her how to do it.”

 I apologized profusely (she didn’t recognize my voice) and informed her when my manager would be in that day- so she was welcome to bring her children by that afternoon.

15 minutes later, she finally said she’d be in at 4pm that day and hung up.

Lovely. 
*****************
Now, my manager has been a stylist for 20+ years and has seen everything.  Been there, done that; has the t-shirt, shot glass and commemorative lighter.  After dealing with Herself, my manager was ready for a drink or six her own self.

I do love my manager-she put Chopper Mom in her place, but good.
She not only told her that there was nothing wrong with any of the kids’ cuts; but pointedly informed her of the facts of life-  that pro hair shears often cost upwards of $300.00 and that it is illegal for a professionally licensed stylist to turn their equipment over to an amateur.
  
Basically, to sit down and let the grownups work.    

Mistakes happen –heaven knows, I’ve made plenty and I don’t consider myself amazing when it comes to cutting hair.  Good, yes. Amazing, no.- and I can fully sympathize with an angry client due to a mistake.

This one, however…

If your child is not yet school age (K+) and cannot sit still for the length of time it takes to eat lunch, they are not civilized enough to have their hair cut at a salon.

Either deal with it yourself; be willing to hold your kid down while they scream or live with any mistakes that happen.  

I honestly believed that parents like that one were largely mythical. Even now that I’ve seen one, I wonder if it was all a nightmare or if I'm just going mad from breathing in too much hairspray.

1 comment:

  1. Oh, I don't think it's the hairspray fumes :). This story just gets better and better. I love the “I thought, ‘how hard could it be to cut a 3 yr old’s hair?’”. Really...lady there is a reason you are bringing him to someone else. It's because you can't handle it yourself.

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