Getting a Haircut

Let me start this entry with a question: In the situation that follows, does a bystander get involved or do they just sit back quietly and observe?

I walked into a Great Clips hair cutting salon, in the town of La Mesa, with the intent of having a few of my hairs cut. I gave my name to the gal at the front desk and then took a seat, adding my mass to the silent assemblage that had already gathered to await their turns. In time, one of the stylists approached and called out the name of her next client. A man stood up and as he stood he commanded to a young boy, “Come”, whereupon a boy of about four years old stood to follow the man who appeared to be the boy’s father.

The stylist led the boy to a chair where he sat to have his haircut. While the stylist went to work, the father stood almost directly behind the boy watching her. As the cut progressed, the man critiqued the manner in which she worked. He spoke with an accent from the New York area and he had an abrupt attitude to go with it. The stylist politely informed the man that she understood the points he was making, and what he was referring to, but she was not finished with the cut yet. And then it happened…

The boy moved his head while the stylist was trimming his right side, causing her to cut more than she intended. She stylist tried to explain to the boy’s father that because the boy had moved his head, she was going to have to modify the style of cut in order to blend everything in. The man continued his badgering, and with all of this happening in the first chair next to the lobby, everyone waiting for their own cuts could hear the conversation. The stylist appeared to be keeping her nerve but in exasperation, she finally turned to the man and asked him if he were a barber. With this confrontation, the man turned to sit back down but as he did he told the stylist disgustedly that if he were a barber he wouldn’t be there in the salon.

Grrr…..

Sitting in my seat waiting for my cut, I looked over at the man who had returned to his seat and I asked him why he couldn’t let the stylist do her job. He told me that if I had any children I wouldn’t be making comments like I just did. I informed him that I had four children, which effectively shut that line of conversation down. He then asked, however, if this was any of my business. I told him that he was out of line, and that really opened him up with comments about how I shouldn’t be butting into other people’s business. He kept at this so at one point I told him, “Look, it’s over”, and he replied, “Just so you know that”, as if to inform me that it was over; yet he still went on and on and on.

When it was finally my turn to have my haircut, I had the fortune of sitting in the chair next to the rude man’s boy. The father remained in the lobby until his boy was done and then he approached to view his boy’s cut, but he didn’t say anything more to me. After the man had left the salon, the boy’s stylist touched my arm and quietly thanked me for sticking up for her. I had to laugh at the man’s stupidity.