Love, Patience and Kindness

Some days it is just so hard to love people.

As a christian I believe that we should love everyone who crosses our path. So I try to treat everyone as the godly creation that they are. Some days it is impossible though, today was one of those days.

(Warning : the following may contain hairstylist jargon that you may or may not understand)

It all started about eight months ago with a client that we will call crazy bus driver lady (CBDL for short). Well CBDL is one of those clients who talks non stop as you are doing their hair. She is on her later 50's and per her alias drives a Rockford school bus. CBDL likes to ask me questions that I would have no idea as to the answer (for instance: were did Angelina and Brad conceive Shilo), and she will ask me about 20 of them through out our 90 mins spent together.

Alas, today's story is NOT about CBDL. CBDL referred another bus driver to my salon to get her hair done. She is the one who I found impossible to love today.

So, CBDL's friend (who we will call C2) is also crazy, which I should have figured out when she mentioned who referred her. The first time she came to see me was just for a trim. This was six months ago. Well she stopped in yesterday saying she wanted her hair trimmed and a color. It was about 90 mins before close so I figured I could squeeze her in. That's when she became Crazy #2. She first started talking about low lights, and how her hair does not hold color well. I told her I could handle that. Then she said she wanted high lights too but not white and not gold. Then she mentioned that she wanted Reese Witherspoon's hair. I explained to her that Reese typically has a beige base with platinum (as she was calling white) highlights. What I should have done was explained to C2 that coloring her hair to look like a 30 something beautiful movie star was NOT going to make her ( a 60 year old ) look like the 30 something movie star. Well, then c2 decided she did not want a color, just the cut. I was okay with that at that point cause I was just fed up with debating color with her.

Then, about 2/3 of the way through the haircut she goes "Okay, go ahead and color it". So I pull out the swatch book, we talk about colors, we pick colors, and I go mix. We chose a light brown (level 6) neutral low light, a beige blonde (level 10) highlight, and a dark golden blonde (level 8) base. I apply, process, and blow dry. C2 checks it out in 3 different mirrors (for different lighting, of course) and says "i like it". She pays, tips me and goes home. I sigh a sigh of relief and go home for the night. I was just glad to be done with her for six months... or so I thought.

At 11ish this morning I am coloring another clients hair and c2 walks through the door. She asks if I am there and sits down. I excuse myself for a moment and grudgingly go see whats up with c2. She tells me that her hair looks NOTHING like Reese Witherspoon and that its ashy. I kindly inform her that there is NO ash in her hair, in fact it is gold based, and that we agreed that Reese Witherspoons hair was not the tome she was looking for, and that SHE picked the colors. Well she goes on and on about Reese Witherspoon to the point of looking through the gossip mags for a picture of her. I explain to her that I could tone her with a gold to knock out anything that may be ashy or neutral once I am done with my current client. C2 says "Well how do you know that is what to do"... I looked her straight in the eye and said with full attitude "because I spent $15,000 on beauty school, and that's what they taught me."

Now normally I wouldn't have said something like that, but this lady had taken every last ounce of love out of my system and I couldn't even stop the words from coming out of my mouth. I still feel bad for addressing her with such attitude, but there was not one ounce of patience left in my soul. I obviously need to continue to work on this part of my life. I want to treat every person I come in contact with as Jesus would have treated them. I want to reflect Christian values and treat everyone with love. Someone once said to me "you may be the only bible that person ever gets to read", and that truly hit home in my soul. If I am the only exposure to Christ that someone has I want to make sure that it is positive and reflective of Jesus' light and love, even if they don't know that is what it is.

C2 didn't have me "fix" her hair. She said she would come back later but didn't, which I am kind of thankful for. My patience level will not be recharged until after my day off tomorrow.