Sunday, January 24, 2010

Different hair

Saturday was a different experience. I came to school and immediately noticed that a lot of people were gone. See, on Saturday's, all day and evening students attend during the same times. This is good and bad. The good is that there are more people to share clients with. The bad is that there are more personality conflicts.
So I am tucked away in the back of class sitting with my friend Tin and the guy that was recently released off of parole, who had obviously spent many a year locked in the "pen" (as he refers to it). Yeah, I know, for some reason I attract people who have had criminal backgrounds. Maybe law enforcement was my calling...ha ha!
I loved sitting in the front of the school because I could usually have my pick of clients. When your in beauty school this is important because it is a pool of nasty, dirty people who come where the prices are cheap, no appointment is necessary and physical cleanliness isn't a must. So I would attack my teacher in hopes of getting the best clients....most of the time.
Well, Saturday was busy. It was winter formal for several schools and all I could think about was having to perform an up-do. I have never really had long hair and don't know what to do with it other than cut it off. Just kidding. I can trim it, color it and dry it. Other then that I am S.O.L.
As I look around I see that every other student in the class has a client but me and Lorissa. Tonya, the instructor, comes over to us and has a pow wow. We find that a family of black people, two of which have dread locks, need a hair wash, marcel iron and haircut. We are at a loss for words. Lorissa goes and gets the young girl, who thankfully is dread lock-less. She sits down and stares at us. I break the ice and asked her if she had ever had two white girls work on her hair. She laughed and replied "No". She was visibly nervous.
Lorissa washed her hair and I prepped for the rest. She sat down and we started working. We blow dried her hair and got it straight enough to only have to use a flat iron on high. If any of you have ever seen or used a marcel iron, you know the dangers of it, for the client as well as the hairdresser. Those things are crazy dangerous!
We got her hair very straight and she was now put at ease. I was the the designated hair cutter and asked her to look at magazines for ideas. She opted for a shoulder length do with long layers and bangs. I cut her hair, which was very different than cutting what I am used to. My scissors had a little but of a temper tantrum on me and didn't allow me to cut the quantity of hair that I have become accustom to.
End result was a 9th grade girl with a sassy new cut and straight hair. She was so happy in fact that she was walking by all the mirrors and checking herself out with a huge smile on her face. Her Mom was happy to see her daughter happy and generously gave me $2 for my time. It did take us 3 hours to do, but who's counting, right? I split the tip with Lorissa and chalked one up in my beauty school accomplishments. I am more comfortable with trying new things and know that I can do the impossible!

1 comment:

Audrey said...

How cool! You're awesome! Why is a marcel iron so dangerous? No up-do's? That's why you made the girl sit there for 3 hours, huh?