A Conundrum in Everyday Ramblings

Thursday I had a hair trim appointment scheduled at an Aveda salon downtown. They called when I was halfway there and said the stylist was running late with another customer and could I come 15 minutes late. This is the second time they have done this. I was not happy, because I was on my way there.

So I went off and checked out the location of an art show I feel obligated to see and will probably enjoy and to check out our big main Christmas tree in Pioneer Square. They take all the bottom branches off to transport the tree and then reattach them when they place it in the center of the square. There was some festival thing around the tree you had to pay for, which is why I shot the top of it but I like the look.

When I got to the salon the young woman receptionist with the unfortunate nose piercing and blue streaked hair was obviously not well trained, skillful, nor do I think she cared all that much, offered me water and an opportunity to sit and wait out of sight in the spa area. She didn’t even take my coat.

I asked her politely to put a comment on my account that being called 15 minutes before an appointment for a delay was a hardship for me because I walked. And then I sat down with my coat on a bench and waited another half an hour. They did not tell me how much longer it would be, I never talked to my stylist who was right around the corner.

Eventually I hung my own coat up.

And then I told the young woman as I was taking my coat back off the peg, you know what, I am just going to go. Oh she said, would you like me to reschedule? No, not at this time I said.

I was furious.

And I am sure that was apparent. This taps in to my deep-seated social anxiety and I am uncomfortable in salons anyway and yet I like to have good-looking well cut and styled hair. It is a conundrum.

I have always felt like I didn’t fit into salon life, the fact that I have always dressed Pacific Northwest casually, the fact that I am an introvert, sensitive to smells and fragrances, didn’t go to high school or college in any sort of consistent regular way so didn’t learn socialize properly…

Anyway I walked home without getting my hair cut and was kind of blue for the rest of the day. I was planning on getting highlights in a few months when my pension payment finally comes through and Mrs. Sherlock suggested I call them up and ask for a half off discount and see if they go for it. I do like their color product better than any other I have tried and there is no way I am doing my own highlights.

If I go somewhere else and have a bad experience I will be doubly mad.

As a delightful chaser though, I went for a club hike yesterday morning with 15 other people and Frida. It was a long one, 8.25 miles but almost completely flat and along the river. I got along just fine with everyone and felt pretty much no social anxiety. It was fun and nobody fell.

Oh and I got to share cookies with a few people around me. Much to my relief Mrs. Sherlock approved. She is making a Pavlova for our casual lunch on Sunday. She was teasing me about liking it because it is named after a ballet dancer that she knew I would know about. Well…yeah.

My new Medicare card came yesterday. I still have hoops to jump through for the supplemental insurance but this is solid progress.

It is actually raining, such a relief, it has been so weird having no rain to speak of but instead this dark dirty gloom. But as you can see by the picture, punctuated now and again with beautiful clear blue sky.

Last updated December 08, 2019