Wednesday, March 18, 2009

Bad Haircut


Actually this happened to me. I mean the bad haircut, not that I saw someone else getting a bad haircut. At the time I wore my hair short. Kind of Ellen short, but not quite that style. The stylist (and I use that term loosely) didn't seem to understand English. It was clearly not her first language. When I explained how I wanted my hair cut, she nodded and mmm hmm'd. (Not a good sign.) I explained that I wanted it short, tapered in the back and then use the electric trimmers to clean up the back of my neck. She grabbed the scissors and just started wildly clipping. (Not unlike Edward Scissorhands, minus the scissorhands.) She was doing a real hack job and I could tell already this wasn't going to be good. A few minutes later she grabbed the electric trimmers and started lopping off patches of hair from the back of my head. I yelled for her to stop. She jumped back, said 'ok, ok' and went back to the Edward Scissorhands impersonation. After awhile she deemed my haircut done. I went to pay, got in the car with the family and started to cry. My husband (now ex) could not believe what the back of my head looked like. He kept asking me why I didn't say something. I was afraid she was the manager. I told him to go in and ask for the manager. I wanted to make sure little Ms. Scissorhands was not the manager. He came back. She wasn't, so I went back in to complain. The manager ended up doing the best she could to even out my haircut and blend in the bald patch.

To this day I will never step foot in any location of that particular hair cutting chain. When I go for a haircut, I need to psyche myself up for it. I'm not joking. It was very traumatic. I will literally take a few days talking myself into it, then going over the successful haircut in my head, thinking about how nice it will look. I am now a regular at a different hair cutting chain near my home. I've even gone to their free hair cutting events when they have training in the back room. I still have to psyche myself up for it, but I know that the instructors (who are the best) will go over my head thoroughly and make sure my hair is cut evenly and that it is exactly what I want. I need a haircut now but I just can't afford it. I'm trying to wait it out until the next training session. Times like this I wish I could cut my own. I cut my son's hair all the time. (Fade with a flip in front.) In fact he prefers it over the training session because he says I'm faster and I do a better job. Maybe if I got a few extra mirrors...

Lola's Diner
©2008-2009

6 comments:

  1. Lola,
    It is so weird that you wrote about hair salons today, because I just got back from getting my hair cut, and as I was leaving the next customer waiting announced herself to the beautician as "Lola." I thought to myself, "Could that possibly be Lola from Lola's Diner?" I know you are somewhere in the Chicago area. I almost asked the woman if she was you? You don't have a photo of yourself on your blog so I'm not sure what you look like. This Lola was very petite, very short brown hair. If it was you, I was the blonde with a blue shirt, just leaving as you were coming in.

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  2. @ Patricia - Oh no, couldn't have been me. I was getting the girls squished today (I'm sure that'll be a post tomorrow). I don't think they offer that at Supercuts. Lol!

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  3. I haven't really ever had a bad hair cut but then it's really hard to mess up my hair. I have cut my friend's hair back in high school and since I had no idea what I was doing I messed it up horribly. We have sort of grown apart since those years and I have no idea where she is anymore. I'm sure she has never been able to forgive me. And I don't blame her.

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  4. I can totally relate to this. Actually, this is the second comment I'm posting today about hairdressers/haircuts, isn't that funny? :)
    I had a hairdresser a couple years ago who hacked my hair. It was down to the middle of my back, I walked out with a a-style-bob, sort of like Victoria Beckham, only I don't look like Victoria Beckham, and my hair is nothing like Victoria Beckham's! It was a disaster. And all because I told my hairdresser that I liked her hairstyle, and she insisted that she could 'do the same thing with my hair' ugh!!

    Last night I got my hair done for the first time in months and months, almost a year! She did a great job, exactly what I wanted! But I totally relate to your nervousness, I could feel myself starting to sweat while I watched her start cutting! :)

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  5. If it makes you feel any better, I've been dealing with a bad cut since last summer. My curly hair was below my shoulders, and I asked the new girl at Great Clips to cut it to my shoulders. She asked if I wanted layers. I said, "Only if it's in the last inch or two of hair. Anything shorter will look like a mushroom after a week." I had been assured by numerous GC stylists past that they're all trained to cut hair the same way. Yeah, well the new girl apparently slept in that day because she goes up to my ears and cuts this big straight chunk of layers on one side and a smaller chunk on the other. My ears are not an inch or two from my neck! I basically had a screwed up mullet when she was through.

    Ever since then I've been trying to grow out the layers enough to just have a chin length bob. Then I want to grow it back out. The problem is everywhere i go (GC, 2 Fantastic Sam's, Hair Cuttery), no one will cut it that way. They all nod and say they understand what I want, and then they just cut the chunky mess of layers right back in there.

    I'm running out of patience and places to go, but I also can't stand it shaggy the way it is now. I think I'm going to blow it out straight next time and see if that makes a difference in how the idiots cut it, but I'm not holding my breath.

    Good luck with your next cut!

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  6. @ Jen - Perhaps she moved away because of the haircut? J/k! Lol!

    @ Michelle - I don't sweat, I just have to psyche myself up for it. One time I took my daughter to the $5 haircut place we always went to. It was cheap and up until that point and the insult about my possibly going bald we always had good experiences there. For some reason the woman thought my daughter was my son's twin...brother. And she gave my daughter a mushroom cut just like my son's. I never heard the end of that from my daughter. After that I had to have the owner of the place cut her hair and that worked out fine. I also switched to the owner because of he bald comment.

    @ Staci - I feel pretty comfortable with my local Supercuts. Since that incident however I am prejudiced. I will not let anyone cut my hair who does not speak english well. I just fear they wouldn't understand me.

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