Adele

You all know I LOVE hair products and everything that has to do with beauty. I am also a sucker for books, book stores actually. The shiny covers, the smell of freshly pressed prose, the staff picks of fiction, the tunes that echo throughout the store that you can’t help but hum along with, ahhh…the book store. Yes, I admit, I do find myself wondering if I will run into Kathleen Kelly or Joe Fox. ( You’ve got mail…enough said). Anyway, back to the tale at hand. As I was wandering through the store humming along to Adele and daydreaming as I often do that we meet and become life long friends, I ended up in front of the Self Help section. I just stood there, captivated by what I saw. Every single person in that section had bad hair. Yeah, I said it. I couldn’t look away, and as I stood there I had what Miss. Oprah would call a light bulb moment. They may have been looking for an answer for a happy marriage or how to come out of the closet, but they were also wishing their hair looked better. (You know they were…we all have those days.) The right color, cut and product may not solve all your issues, but good hair is a good start.

I know, it’s what is inside that counts. How dare I say such things out loud or put in print for that matter. Yes, I do agree wholehearted that it is what is inside that counts. I also believe that if you like the way you look, it can make for a better day. I stress what you see and what you like. It took everything in me not to rope the crowd in Self Help together and take them back to my shop and teach them how do to their hair. I mean seriously, even Dr. Phil would look at the hair that hadn’t been brushed in a week and say “how’s that workin’ for ya?”. It isn’t just about looking good, it’s about taking time for you. Think about it, if you take the time to do your hair and/or makeup, you have just set aside 10 – 30 minutes just for you and you alone. I am a firm believer that healing begins when you make yourself a priority, even if only for a few minutes a day. If you don’t like the reflection in the mirror, no Self Help book is going to help. Trust me, I know of what I speak, that is another tale for another time.

Brush your hair, wash your face. Grab that flat iron and iron out that frizz. Put on some lip gloss. Take a minute for yourself. Think of it this way, if you like your hair it is one less thing that you need help with, and one less thing is always a good thing.

There I was, restocking the shelves, humming along to Adele, imagining us as the best of friends when I heard the all too familiar door chime. I turn to the door, smiling, “Hello there, how ya doin’ today?” to which I get silence. She saw me, I know. She looked right through me actually. So, I wander over to her and ask if I can give her a hand, to which she snarls “What did you say?!?!”. So I clarify I was just asking if she needed a hand finding what she needed or if I could be of any assistance. “Well, are you a hairdresser?” She asks. “No, I am not. I do know all the product lines and have been to many classes so I am sure I can help you today.” I say with my mega watt smile. “Pfft…doubt it” she states. CHALLENGE! is all that resonates in my mind.

Before I finish today’s tale, which I come out looking fabulous as always, I must tell you all something. I cannot stress this point enough. STOP BEING NASTY. Just stop. You look like an ass, you really do. If you get your kicks picking on sales people and stylists, there is a variety of medications to help you.

Since I want to enlighten and educate, I have compiled a little list. It is not the sales person/stylist fault if ;

– your husband is having an affair

– you chipped your nails

– you bought crappy product from the drug store and now people think you are auditioning for the part of the scarecrow from the land of Oz

– you hate your life

– your underwear is riding up

– the last salesperson didn’t help you

– your car has a flat tire

I could go on and on, I think you get the picture. Back to today’s tale. So, as the women stood there, her hand on her hip, smirking with pride at her go to grade nine back of the school picking on the nerdy boy phrase, I smiled and told her “I may not be a licensed stylist, but I know more than the majority of stylists out there about product, since I sell over 30 lines and have been in the biz over 10 years, so why don’t you tell me what your “hair” issue is and we can go from there.” She just stood there, gaping, quite upset I am sure that I didn’t get nasty or cry. She wanted a fight, but she wasn’t gonna get one. Long story short, she was coming out of a breakup and she didn’t know how to do her hair. She had just gotten a cute cut but the stylist didn’t show her how to do it, or tell her what product to use. So that’s when I said “I can fix this. I can help you to do your hair.”. I found her the product she needed and as I rang through her purchase, she apologized. I told her it was alright, that I have had worse things said to me. I told her I was happy to help her. I did ask her to try to be nicer to the next person she spoke to. She just stared at me. I explained I meant no disrespect, but that she was lucky she ran into me because there are many people out there that would not have been so kind.

In the immortal word of Bill & Ted – “be excellent to each other”.