Getting my hair cut still makes me nervous. Let’s be real: a stranger is wielding scissors against my hair.
Now imagine haircut + non-native language. That makes for a fun time. I’ve had a few of these experiences outside the U.S., including once when I cut off about twelve inches. That was in Mexico in 2010 and I applaud my past self for at least cutting out a picture to show the hairdresser. When I walked in and sat down I began by trying to tell him in Spanish what I wanted:
Me: I want you to cut it all off. I want it really short.
Hairdresser: Ok, no problem.
Me: Like this (I show him the picture).
Hairdresser: oh shit, like really short!?
Yup.
And he cut it just like the picture. Perfection.
Unfortunately not all hair-cutting experience go like this. A few weeks ago I went for my second haircut in Spain. (Bad thing about short hair: you have to get it cut a lot.) The first one was very successful and very cheap: only 10 euros. I went back to the same place the second time. It started off fine. The woman was friendly, chatty, etc. Towards the end though she started asking me if she could put this or that product in my hair. I wasn’t familiar with any of the products and I couldn’t see anything she was showing me because I had taken off my glasses for the haircut and my eyesight is about -653 in each eye (more like -7, but you get the point). So when she asked, I just said, whatever, that’s fine.
Bad move.
It was all over and I put my glasses on to see the final product. Mreh. I’ve had worse. But this was not very good. There were some strange lines going on… The worst part: my grand total was 30 euros. DUDE! That’s enough to buy two months supply of garbanzo beans! (which are my main form of sustenance.) I didn’t want to haggle the woman about it. I just went home, fixed my hair, trimmed the bangs a little. (Good thing about short hair: you don’t have much to lose.)
Lesson (probably about the fifth time I’ve learned it now): WHEN NICE PEOPLE OFFER YOU THINGS THAT DOES NOT MEAN THEY ARE FREE. In fact, most often they are not free at all.
Also, I’m sorry I don’t have a picture of the haircut. I did not foresee it turning into a blog post. It wasn’t that terrible. But for 30 euro I expect the best freaking haircut of my life. And that was not it.
Anne Foster 