Miscommunication 101

The weekend was a little bit backwards. Yesterday felt like a Saturday so I am really, really, really craving a Sunday right about now.

Speaking of backwards, I think that I was speaking Backwards English yesterday ...

I had the time, opportunity and money to get my hair cut and colored yesterday afternoon. I squeezed it into a rather productive day and utilized the only free two hours that I had at my disposal. I thought that was a good sign that this was truly 'meant to be'.

The hair 'artist' asked me what I wanted done. This is where it started to go wrong. I used the wrong words, phrases and emphasis to describe what I didn't want.

I said (something to the effect of), "I'm glad my hair looks the way it does today because this is exactly what I want to get rid of." I grabbed the clump of hair on the top of my head and told her that it desperately needed to be thinned and it was not thinned properly the last time and it had led to this 'mushroom cap' look that I didn't want. I brought along photos of Kelly Pickler (with her short, sassy hair Dancing-With-the-Stars-hairstyle). I told her this was the look that I was going for ...

Then she asked about the color. She asked if I wanted to go with the brash, yucky, icky reddish tinge that was left over from my last bad color. Why did I not just say distinctly, loudly and succinctly, "NO"? Instead I grabbed the roots of my hair and said that I wanted to go towards something that would get rid of these unsightly roots. What I intended to mean was "I want my natural color, with highlights".

Well? At the end of her styling process, she had not even touched the top of my head when she started to blow it dry. Color me crazy, but I thought that perhaps she cut it when I wasn't looking and maybe she knew what she was doing. When she grabbed a big, round brush and blew some body into this massive amount of hair it wasn't feeling good. It didn't look any better.

So eventually, I did get the top of my hair thinned. I have no idea if it is going to work for me because she styled it and I don't know how it is going to act in 'real life'. But for the rest of the day and so far this morning, I can live with it.

My Youngest Son took a double take when he saw my hair in the light. He said that this is the first time that he has ever noticed a difference after I got my hair done. I asked what he noticed. He said he noticed the color. He didn't elaborate and I didn't ask if that was a good or a bad thing.

When I looked in the mirror this morning, after erasing my memory while I slept ... I simply saw the color that I had hoped to get rid of. It's not ugly. It is simply not the color I intended to spend two hours of my precious Sunday and all of my hard earned and precious-to-me cash that I had earned doing a job that I don't exactly love to do.

Yes, I could go back and have them 'fix' whatever I may find to be wrong with it after I wash it for the first time. But I have no desire to give up any more of my time. If I'm going to be sitting still for that amount of time, I would much rather be at home where I could fully appreciate it.

I'm done obsessing with my hair. It is a minor thing. It grows. And it looks far, far better than it did at this time yesterday. I don't hate it. The thing that bothers me the most is the backwards communication that transpired during that little 'hair transaction'. I played and replayed what I actually said and realized that I was not precise and clear in my intent. But in my eyes, I would think that Communications 101 should be the first course a hair stylist takes. How can you possibly hope to please your customers if you don't communicate what you 'hear' and reword it before you start cutting and coloring one's hair?

Then again ... my hair specialist yesterday was a 'Hair Artist'. Maybe they bring their interpretation of what they see, hear and feel into their art. And you are to walk out of the salon feeling like a masterpiece.