For Better or For Worse by Lynn Johnston for March 29, 2018

Don’t blame you, Elly…she was talking Chinese. You chose the safest course.

what a dull, monotoned salon employee

“Take a quarter inch off the bottom?!!” She could’ve done that HERSELF.

A few comments:

1. “chomp, chomp, crack” From the “chomp” I get that the stylist is eating something, but what does “crack” mean? Did she crack a tooth or a filling?

2. If Elly Patterson is looking for a significant change in her hairstyle, why would she be going to a stylist she does not know, who appears to be incompetent and just a little sleazy? Wouldn’t Elly just go to the person she knows who usually cuts her hair?

Good grief Elly you could’ve done that yourself at home and saved the money.

Even a quarter inch will make Elly cry in the mirror!

Elly just want to go to someone different for the sake of anonymity.

Want an Adventurous Trim? Get Mike to cut your hair!

Elly probably hasn’t had a trim, much less a good cut, since before Michael was born….

she can’t go to her regular stylist if she doesn’t have one.

I agree that this gum-cracking young woman put her off….

but from my experience as a haircutter, she’d probably have asked for a teeny trim anyway.

A haircut is scary, when you’re used to the “same old” you….. plus you have 10 or 20 years invested in growing your hair.

Most of us with long hair have also had bad experiences, with asking for a couple of inches off and noticing, too late, that the stylist was cutting it up near our shoulders.

I try to tell a nervous client that I’ll do exactly what she asks… and I will…

but first, I explain that a few inches… or whatever it would take with her particular hair … would give it more shape, free the ends, make it wave, or whatever it is I could do with it.

By the third cut or so, in a few months, it may be easier for her to make a more dramatic change, if she’s too scared now…. baby steps, baby steps.

And NO… you can’t “just” cut a quarter inch off yourself, if you want it to look good!

Your bangs, OK. But to walk behind your own back, keep the hair parallel, and cut a straight, even line?

A quarter inch is the same as any other amount… maybe even harder…. the strands just bend out of the way, especially from the dull blades of household scissors.

Also, as a professional, I don’t just cut it off like a piece of paper….

I shape the bottom line, and also, the ends, from underneath to outside, usually a tiny bit shorter underneath to make it turn under, but it depends on the hair and the client.

That’s how we earn our keep… though at my age, I don’t do it much any more.

BTW… chewing gum while cutting hair??

Yuck!

Little hairs fly everywhere. I don’t understand salons that serve wine, either, for the same reason… ick.

Lynn’s Notes:

Been there, done that.

What a waste. If she had a regular hairdresser, the hairdresser would have taken off a significant amount but with the same style. Then if Ellie was okay, more could come off and maybe even a third cut with a style. Now Ellie can’t trust someone else with her hair.

One day, during lunch in high school, my friends & I were talking about what we wanted to do “when we grew up”. My friend J. said that she wanted to be a hair stylist. Another friend laughed and said, “Great! You can be the one to cut Karen’s hair!” We all laughed and J. said, “No way am I going to be the one!” Fast forward a few years. I’m 20 and decided to get my hair cut. I walked into a place. The woman at the counter asked if I wanted a trim, and I said, “No, a cut…up to the shoulders.” She tried to talk me out of it, but took me to my seat, then stood there a moment, fingering my hair (which I love). The customer & stylist next to me asked what was going on, and she told them. THEY proceeded to come and finger my hair. After a short bit, my person said that she’d get my stylist. I’m sitting back with my eyes closed, when I hear a gasp! I opened my eyes…and yes…it was J.

Ever heard of the saying “the customer is always right”? Maybe this girl should stop cracking her gum for ten seconds to listen to her brain saying “Earth to hairdresser, Elly is a paying customer!”

Reminds me of Carol Brady in the first “Brady Bunch” movie, where she saw different hair-dos & wound up loving the same one.

In all fairness to the tonsorial artist, she must be use to playing to younger clients. Her usual approach was not really applicable to Elly. And poor Elly, as we grow older (I’m in my early 60s) we tend to like to stay with what we’re comfortable with. Trying to break out of that requires tremendous emotional effort. Yeah, it’s ‘only a hair cut’, but it’s truly a radical change. I’ve reached the point where I just tell myself, ‘You can’t be a hippy all your life.’ But this attitude is not for everyone.

I knew she’d wimp out. She’s not ready to cut her hair….and she doesn’t have to.

With people like that hairdresser, is understandable why Canada has yet to put a man on the moon.

I am Elly. It is so scary to make a change. You really want to do this differently. You want to research. You want to go to someone that you trust (and if, like she and I, you don’t have a person, you want to use a trusted friend’s). You want to have the hairdresser explain everything or show a computer simulation what it would look like. And you really want to have a friend there to support you- not just emotionally, but you probably don’t know the language and if you are so anxious, you might also not be at your best to think, and you can panic like Elly does and opt for no change.

It doesn’t help to hear all the horror stories of cuts and colors that went wrong and didn’t grow out for months or years :-/

I’m never getting my hair so much as trimmed after all this!

The stylist needs to be careful with the way she handles Elly’s hair. There is something about the way she is pulling on it that is making Elly’s nose grow bigger.

I think she ends up getting a perm!

Biggest/most common problem with haircutters/stylists. The want to do the style they like and don’t really have any interest in what you want.

I remember this story arc. She’s gonna get a perm.

Cut it short. It will set you free.