There was one afternoon last week the shop was really busy. I looked across the waiting area and recognized one figure in particular. She was a walk in, and had been here before, at least twice. I remember that both those times she had walked back to the chair swinging her hair seductively and commenting how it was getting to be so much to look after. Each time she told me she wanted to cut it nice and short, “easy to look after” she said. Once her hair was washed and I was ready to begin the cut she would get all nervous and tell me she would keep it long just for now! I of course felt very frustrated both times since there was nothing more exciting than to sink my scissors into a great head of hair. And a great head of hair this was: wonderfully rich, shiny and thick.

It was another 20 minutes before I was able to get to her. She came waltzing back like she had before and once in the chair told me she was just dying to get her hair short! She asked me what I thought and I told her I thought it would look wonderful. I explained I would wash it for her first and we could do something nice and easy to look after. She mentioned it would be nice if it didn’t need a lot of care. I jokingly suggested a comb free look and she giggled and agreed.

I brushed her hair out before taking her over to the sink, then suggested that it would be best if I could get an idea of how her hair would behave while it was still dry without all the weight pulling it down. She said nothing but nodded understanding. With the scissors in one hand I ran the other through her hair and told her I would get rid of some of the excess weight. She froze! In that moment I cut into the back from the nape up to the crown, taking a complete section out of the back.

As she sat there in panic I smiled, “this will make it so much easier to manage. You’ll love it nice and short”. She immediately burst into tears. I tried to console her telling her all the advantages of shorter hair. All the time I kept cutting large handfuls. Within the next 30 to 45 seconds I had her hair roughly hacked off about 4-6 inches long. At this point we went back for the wash. As I combed out her wet hair I began suggesting different styles. She was still in shock so I continued to snip and shape. When I finally began to do the blow dry her hair was nicely scissored about ½ inch long around the neck and ears. The back and top graduated to an inch and the front left an inch and a half. She was very neatly cropped but definitely in shock. She didn’t ask for her cut hair like most do. When I swept it up I measured some of the cuttings at 26 inches.