Curls

6 days ago, I sat in a chair getting a haircut.

I didn't trust the man cutting my hair at all. He was hard to understand- not just because of his accent, but his method of communication itself seemed rather flawed. Not to mention every time someone walked into the shop, he would spin around quickly to greet them. I found this very disconcerting considering he had sharp objects near my head.

I really missed the place where I used to get my haircut in Japan. It was always very gentle and, although the communication was all in Japanese, I trusted them not to mess up my hair (or stab me accidentally). I hadn't realized how much I would miss that place until I was in this other place.

I ended up there because I told my mom I wanted a haircut and she told me that a place in Prunedale which usually charges more was having a $12 special. While that would be about the same as a Supercuts haircut, I figured that it would likely be a better haircut for cheaper. As a grad school student, naturally, the chance to save money drew me in.

At one point, the said that after he is done cutting my hair he will show me a way I could do my hair for going out.

'Sure, why not?' I thought.

This is what he did....

He took a HANDFUL of mousse and put it in my hair. This alone made me cringe- I don't like having a lot of product in my hair and even when I do put some in, it's only a tiny amount which I sometimes even dilute with water.

Anyway, he covered my hair with mousse, got out a curling iron, and began curling my hair.

I just sat there; my expression irritated.

I've never liked or wanted curls in my hair.

Let's flash back to my childhood, shall we?

Like many other kids, I didn't like to eat the crust on bread (I still don't actually, come to think of it, but I eat it anyway). When my mom and her sisters were younger, they used to be encouraged to eat bread crust by adults who told them that it would make their hair curlier. As the story goes, this was enough to convince them to eat the crust from the bread.

So, naturally, some of them tried to pass on this encouragement to me.

This had an adverse effect- I did not want curly hair, so hearing this made me believe there was even more reason to avoid eating bread crust.

Years later, I watched the movie Mulan and started to envy straight Asian hair.

I was always easy going when someone wanted to curl my hair, but I would always get rid of the curls as soon as I was home again.

Anyway, the guy at the salon I was at tried to charge me eight additional dollars for the styling. I told him that he can't charge someone without telling them and he brought the price back down to $12.

I went back to my mom's house and the mousse-y, curly hair was bothering me. I wanted to determine what I thought of the haircut, but the ridiculousness that I had no wish to replicate was getting in the way. So, I used my mom's shower, washed the mousse hair, and regained my rights to the top my head. It felt like sanity and control re-entered my life.

A few hours later, my mom and I were at the mall in Salinas. We passed by a booth selling straighteners and curlers. A saleswoman was trying to get us to stop. I thought it would be nice to have a good quality straightener, but I don't feel like I have the money to spend, so I kept walking. However, I realized that my mom had stopped and began talking to the woman- I was trapped.

My was was obviously the one who was interested, but since she has very short hair, the saleswoman kept asking me to sit down so she could demonstrate on me. I thought this was ridiculous- she curled part of my hair once and I asked her to straighten it again. From this, you would think that she would understand that I have absolutely no interest in this straighteners ability to also curl, but she curled my hair a second time. My mom was the one who was interested, but she continued to insist on using my hair to demonstrate when that really only communicated that my mom couldn't do these things to her hair anyway.

I really didn't get who exactly she was trying to sell the product to and I was really glad to finally get away. I was baffled that two people curled my hair without my permission in one day.

And that's the story.

It seemed more interesting in my mind.

(I'm willing to bet $238239 that Bethany thought of at least one comment while reading this.
By the way, I don't dislike other people having lots of product in their hair or curls- I just don't like either of those things for myself.)