I found you in my darkest hour. The day after, well, you remember. The worst haircut of my life. I tried that place outside of the capitol building that had been there for 40 years. I think the stylist had been there the entire time. It was a fateful decision that changed the course of my hair styling destiny.
When I was done, I was butchered, too short on top and standing straight up like Spanky. I immediately began calling around to places in my area to fix it somehow, any way – immediately and when I heard your voice, I found immediate comfort.
I made my appointment for that very afternoon. I walked in, with big sunglasses and a Berka on so no one would recognize me going in. I looked like a very butch Hollywood Muslim, but nonetheless, I slithered into the chair.
Up and down you looked. You shook your head. Put your finger on your chin in deep thought. Touched the hair. Stood back and looked at it again. Sighed heavily. Then, you said, “I’ll do what I can at no charge, then come back in three weeks.”
It was the start of a beautiful relationship.
But what do I do now? Like any of the transitory relationships in my life, now it is time for you to go. I have to go somewhere else. I can’t even remember how we got to this place in our relationship. I need less Dorothy Hamill and more Rachel Maddow.
Do I just disappear like a Flock of Seagulls haircut or (wo)man-up and tell you I need to find someone who can satisfy my needs. I know, I know, you think I’m going through a mid-life crisis, but I’m not. We’ve just grown apart and I think it’s best for us both if we see other people.
In the words of my son, “It’s not me, it’s you.”
Yours in Barbering,
Al the Letter Writing Lesbian
Leslie
Oct 22nd, 2009You know, I have had at least 3 hairdressers confide in me that they actually expect people to tire of them after a while and move on. I usually use someone for about a year or so, then switch and have even come back to some of them. They have all been good natured about it. I will say this, the male hairdressers are usually not. They give you that look when you come in after you’ve been “with someone else” and make snide comments, but really most everyone I have been too understand that people need to change from time to time. If all else fails, send them flowers with a sorry note.
Anna
Oct 22nd, 2009I’ve given up on hairdressers in general – my SIL, who used to do my hair, and do it right, lives too far away now. And where I live, the only difference between a cheap haircut and an expensive haircut is the price. So I go to the cheap places and never have the same stylist twice. It seems to work.
taradharma
Oct 22nd, 2009i’ve tried supercuts and had some real disasters. For several years now I see Carol every 12 weeks or so, and shell out 50 bucks with tip. It’s worth it. She knows my hair. She’s brilliant. I shall never have to craft a break-up letter for Carol.
Lucia Olson
Oct 22nd, 2009A relationship with a hairdresser is kind of like a romantic relationship–they do get offended if you take off for unexplained periods of time. My current haircutter, Bobbie Braunstein from the Bronx (who now lives in Oregon but commutes once a month to the Bay Area to cut hair) got downright miffed when I stopped coming for six months due to budget constraints.
She pouted when I came back in and made another appointment, then tried to sell me an expensive hairbrush. We’ve patched things up today, although she made noises about how due to the economy, no one’s coming in.
So my advice to you Al is to let her down easily. Is it just because she won’t (or can’t) do a Rachel Maddow?
Lucia Olson
Oct 22nd, 2009P.S. Dorothy Hamill and Rachael Maddow are both cute.
I used to have a crush on Dorothy Hamill. My parents just thought I was really into ice-skating.
GG
Oct 22nd, 2009I’ve been going to the same lady for as long as I’ve lived in Pueblo. When I first moved here, I was growing my hair out for the first time in my life and it was shoulder length. She got me through that and then through cutting it all back off to where it is now–the butch buzz that I love. I find cuts that I like in the men’s section of hair styling mags and she has no trouble cutting my hair how ever I ask her to. She is a jewel and I can’t see ever leaving her, but then, she listens to what you say, but can also help if you are having a ‘crisis’. May you find someone like my Arleen!
GG
Melly
Oct 22nd, 2009I so relate! I broke up with my hairdresser a couple of years ago…he started dating a much younger guy and my hair started looking like his boyfriends!
I found someone new..Phoebe is her name. So far, so good.
Love the post!!
Margo Moon
Oct 22nd, 2009Wow, all these heartbreaking responses. We need to just legalize hairdressing and get on with it!