The Mane Affair
Yes, I know the title isn't very original. So sue me. I am also aware that what I have can hardly be considered a mane. Let's move on, shall we?
A couple of weeks ago I went for a free haircut. Weiwei had given me a card to be used at a certain salon's training school in Bugis, and I was running low on cash, so I thought, why not? I made an appointment and went that very afternoon.
I was originally thinking of dyeing my hair at the same time, just because I was so sick of getting mistaken for a fucking NS boy (or man, if propaganda will have its way - I say you're a boy till you ORD, or maybe even beyond). It being a training school, I soon found out they had specific days and sessions allocated for each type of service, and today was Haircut Day, not Dyeing Day. If I wanted a coloring session, I had to pay a nominal fee ($18 to $50; I thought it seemed quite reasonable) and make a separate appointment.
I had time that afternoon, so I thought I could just get a quick haircut and still be able to squeeze in a coloring session at a regular salon.
I was very, very mistaken indeed.
Ordinarily, my hair, being very short to begin with, would need possibly 5 to 10 minutes max to trim. It's really very simple, just use the clippers and buzz up the sides and back, and voila, it's done. I thought, since the guy (let's call him D) was a student, he'd probably take 2 to 3 times the amount of time. So OK, 40 minutes, to be generous.
Then I realized D wasn't allowed to use the clippers. He had to slowly snip away using a comb and scissors. As D went along, I further realized that my short hair actually posed a huge problem for him as he had no fucking clue how to handle it.
As time passed, I could sense D getting more and more tired. He got his instructor to "demonstrate" more and more, while his attention span during said "demonstrations" got shorter and shorter. He sighed, he fidgeted, he looked everywhere but where the instructor was wielding his scissors. Basically, D gave up in exasperation.
When I was finally done, two hours had elapsed.
Two. Fucking. Hours.
That's 120 minutes. Which is 12 times what it would take me elsewhere. Hell, if I'd gone to my neighborhood Malay barber it would've taken only 5 minutes, and cost me S$9. Two hours for a simple haircut is just too much, in my opinion. I'd been intending to pass the other postcards around to friends, but instead I promptly threw all of them away. No one should have to be subjected to this torture.
Of course I couldn't manage to fit a coloring session in that day.
I did it the next day. I wonder why, when you say "surprise me" to a stylist, they still insist on telling you exactly what they intend to do. Doesn't that take away the element of surprise? When I say "do whatever you want", or "surprise me", it means just that. I'll take anything you got. I guess not too many people actually say that to them, and they're used to covering their asses in case the customer hates it. At least they can say, "I told you, and you wanted to do it."
Anyway here it is. I like it. Even though it's ash again. I think next time I'll have to insist on "anything but ash".
A couple of weeks ago I went for a free haircut. Weiwei had given me a card to be used at a certain salon's training school in Bugis, and I was running low on cash, so I thought, why not? I made an appointment and went that very afternoon.
I was originally thinking of dyeing my hair at the same time, just because I was so sick of getting mistaken for a fucking NS boy (or man, if propaganda will have its way - I say you're a boy till you ORD, or maybe even beyond). It being a training school, I soon found out they had specific days and sessions allocated for each type of service, and today was Haircut Day, not Dyeing Day. If I wanted a coloring session, I had to pay a nominal fee ($18 to $50; I thought it seemed quite reasonable) and make a separate appointment.
I had time that afternoon, so I thought I could just get a quick haircut and still be able to squeeze in a coloring session at a regular salon.
I was very, very mistaken indeed.
Ordinarily, my hair, being very short to begin with, would need possibly 5 to 10 minutes max to trim. It's really very simple, just use the clippers and buzz up the sides and back, and voila, it's done. I thought, since the guy (let's call him D) was a student, he'd probably take 2 to 3 times the amount of time. So OK, 40 minutes, to be generous.
Then I realized D wasn't allowed to use the clippers. He had to slowly snip away using a comb and scissors. As D went along, I further realized that my short hair actually posed a huge problem for him as he had no fucking clue how to handle it.
As time passed, I could sense D getting more and more tired. He got his instructor to "demonstrate" more and more, while his attention span during said "demonstrations" got shorter and shorter. He sighed, he fidgeted, he looked everywhere but where the instructor was wielding his scissors. Basically, D gave up in exasperation.
When I was finally done, two hours had elapsed.
Two. Fucking. Hours.
That's 120 minutes. Which is 12 times what it would take me elsewhere. Hell, if I'd gone to my neighborhood Malay barber it would've taken only 5 minutes, and cost me S$9. Two hours for a simple haircut is just too much, in my opinion. I'd been intending to pass the other postcards around to friends, but instead I promptly threw all of them away. No one should have to be subjected to this torture.
Of course I couldn't manage to fit a coloring session in that day.
I did it the next day. I wonder why, when you say "surprise me" to a stylist, they still insist on telling you exactly what they intend to do. Doesn't that take away the element of surprise? When I say "do whatever you want", or "surprise me", it means just that. I'll take anything you got. I guess not too many people actually say that to them, and they're used to covering their asses in case the customer hates it. At least they can say, "I told you, and you wanted to do it."
Anyway here it is. I like it. Even though it's ash again. I think next time I'll have to insist on "anything but ash".
posted by cinewhore @ 9:22 AM
3 mindfucks
3 Comments:
at least he knew what u meant by 'surprise me'. and not like my wallet shop attendant. the fucker didn't know what i meant by 'billfold' wallet (but you know that already) and asked me in return, 'what kind of beautiful wallet you want? we have alot of beautiful wallets...' FUCKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKK!
paiseh lah... i din noe it will take THAT long wor... :p
-ww
thanks man wmx for throwing away the papers. I dun think anyone will wan to go into some saloon to haf a hair cut by some fucking students who din even put in the effort to learn.
gimme some mindfuckery
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