Haircare: “The Gods Must Be Crazy” Style

Last Sunday at church I was talking to a young mom and mentioned the fact that when I was in junior high we didn’t have hairdryers or blow dryers as some people call them. Her mouth dropped wide open in disbelief. 

I know I’m dating myself when I say that in the 70’s I was in junior high. My first job with a paycheck other than babysitting was a newspaper route. I was excited to have some money of my own to spend on some discretionary items. 

In 1973 I went to get my haircut and the stylist used a handheld hair dryer. I was impressed with its convenience. The thought of not racing out the door in the morning to school with wet hair was enticing. I was never much for taking a bath the night before school. I always took a shower in the morning but never quite early enough for my hair to be completely dry.

I asked the stylist where I could find one of those hair dryers and she told me which store I could find one. It was within walking distance so I took some money out of my savings account and went to the store and purchased one. I was so excited to use it that I went home, took a shower and tried out my new dryer. 

In our home we only had one bathroom with a tub/shower for a family of eight. In the morning we were like a well-oiled machine. We each had our appointed time in the shower and then we would head to our rooms to finish getting ready. I left my hair dryer in the bathroom the night before after my shower.  

The next morning when I went to use my hairdryer it was gone. My sister had it in her room. I retrieved it. I put it back in the bathroom after using it and the following morning the dryer was gone from the bathroom once again. This time I found it in my brother’s room. It seems that he found it useful as well. 

Over the following weeks each and every member of my family found use for my hairdryer. I was so surprised one morning when I came down from my attic bedroom to the sound of the hairdryer in the bathroom during my Dad’s shower time. Not Dad too….

In the movie “The Gods Must Be Crazy” an empty coke bottle is dropped from an airplane into an isolated tribe. The tribe members all found uses for the newfound item. Each member “needed” the coke bottle even though they had never seen or used one before.

Finally the tribe leader who was tired of all the fighting that the coke bottle caused within the tribe decides to walk and throw the Coke bottle off the end of the earth to bring peace back to the tribe.

After several weeks of chasing after my hair dryer to retrieve it so I could use it, I was ready to throw it out our window because I never got to use it when I wanted to dry my hair. I was still leaving for school with wet hair. So much for new technology, what good is it if you never get to use it?

 

The Art of Communication and New Haircuts

Some people look forward to haircuts.  They even go so far as to schedule their next haircut when they are getting their haircut.  Every six weeks is how often a lot of people get their haircut.  That is way too soon for me.  It seems no matter how close or far apart I schedule my haircuts they just don’t meet my expectations.

I’m convinced that the reason that I don’t end up with the haircut I envision is that I must have poor communication skills when it comes to haircuts.  When I was young growing up in the Twin Cities we didn’t have haircuts often.  With six kids it was just too expensive to get our haircut often.  My Dad used to cut my brother’s hair at home and Mom would trim our bangs to make our haircuts stretch out a little longer for us girls.

I remember the first time I went to get a special haircut on my own with my babysitting money and what a disaster it was back then.  I told the woman what I wanted.  I didn’t want it too short and definitely wanted something other than a “Pixie cut” which was basically a girl’s version of a boys haircut.  It was short.  I had spent a long time growing my hair out just so I could have some options for my hair.  The mistake I made was going to the place where I always got my hair cut.  When I left after the haircut it looked exactly like my last haircut.

Shortly after I got my first job at McDonald’s I wanted a perm for my hair.  It was longer now and I had saved up for the perm and haircut.  I had just enough time to get my perm before I had to be at work.  I told the woman  I wanted a perm so my flat, straight hair would have some body.  When she was finished I took one look at my hair and wished that I could call in sick for work.  I would have to go to work with my hair looking like “Link” from the Mod Squad.  For those of you too young to remember Link from the Mod Squad, think the guy with a long Afro hairdo minus the sideburns.   Not flattering on me.  I ended up with really short curly hair for a while after I got most of the perm cut off the next day.

Credit picture Babalublog.com

 

This past week I decided that I would try another haircut.  I came prepared with picture in hand so there would be no mistake in what I wanted.  She asked me “Do you want to do the same as last time?  My thought,   “How would you know since you didn’t cut my hair last time?”

“No, I’d like to try something a little different”  and I handed her the picture.  “We can do that” she replied.  She attacked my hair with great gusto, cutting, clipping and combing as she went.  I was excited to see the finished product.   Once again my hair turned out the same.  There must be a sign somewhere on my body that says no new ideas for hair allowed.  Every person who cuts my hair cuts it the same way and always way too  short.

I may have to decide that I like the Demi Moore  haircut in for the movie  G.I. Jane movie.  All I would have to do is take out the clippers and start buzzing it off.  No more too short haircuts.  They would all be short.  Best of all no more explaining what kind of haircut I want because there would be no way to mess this one up.  I could cut it myself.

Credit for picture Mirror.co.uk

 

Feeling Shy and the $170 Haircut

In the piloting world people talk about the $100.00 hamburger and what they are referring to is renting a plane, flying it to a destination, having lunch or dinner somewhere, and flying back home again.  The cost of renting the Cessna 152 I fly is $79.00/hour wet which means fuel included. 

Last Thursday I took one such trip with my husband.  My Dad is running as an independent for Congress in November so he needed to collect 1000 signatures from people who live in the district he is running in.  Since I got my certificate in April I have only been up flying once about a month ago.  I decided that I could combine collecting signatures and flying in my rare day off.  Now flying the plane to the location we were collecting signatures from made absolutely no sense from the point of trying to save time but it would allow me to get back up in the plane so I scheduled us a rental plane.

We stopped in a work before we left and ended up spending an hour or so tying up loose ends before we felt comfortable that everything was handled in our absence and then drove to the St Cloud Airport.  I got the weather updates and preflighted the plane and armed with my trusty clipboard and petitions sheets we took off for Glenwood, Minnesota where we would be collecting signatures.  

It was a beautiful trip over, about 55 nm(nautical miles).  The area we flew over demonstrated just where Minnesota got its name Land of 10,000 Lakes.  We flew over many lakes and farm fields.  It took us about a half hour to get there.  We landed in Glenwood and got their courtesy car and drove the 3 miles into town from the airport.  Before we left the airport my husband asked “Is there any place to get a haircut in town?”  The lady at the airport didn’t know of one.  My husband was sure we could find one so we drove around Glenwood for about 15 minutes and finally found a place.  My husband said “Why don’t you go and collect some signatures while I get my haircut?”  So I set out in the neighborhood where the hair salon located to get some signatures.

I walked up to the first door and knocked, no one home.  The second door there was a car in the yard so I walked up and knocked on the door.  I saw someone look out the window next to the door and slowly the inside door that was partially opened closed and no one came to the door.  I went to the third house, a corner house, and as I was walking up to the door a car passed very slowly on the street and turned the corner and parked on the side of the house but the person never got out of the car.  They just sat there and watched.  I walked to the next house.  I  knocked and an older women came to the door and after I explained what I was there for she said that she wasn’t interested.

Now I don’t think that I’m a particularly scary looking person but I felt like I had the plague while I was carrying that clipboard.  People wouldn’t make eye contact.  The longer I tried the less confident I felt in my ability to be able to collect even one signature.  Its been a long time since I have felt shy but that was the feeling that was starting to creep up in my body.  I almost felt like I was back in junior high in those awful awkward years.  I wondered at this time how in the world my Dad and other volunteers had already collected over 900 signatures in the past week and I haven’t even collected one.

I was working my way back to where my husband was getting his haircut when I saw a young man walking  up the street and I stopped and talked to him.  He was a salesman from a car dealership.  I talked, he listened, and signed.  Yeah! Finally my first signature.  I was now by the hair salon that was located in an old school building.  My husband walked out after his haircut and I walked back in to see if I could get a signature or two in there.  The stylist asked me “What is his stand on domestic abuse?”  I said “He’s against it”  How do you answer that question?  I felt inadequate in my response.  She still signed.  I didn’t ask for her to elaborate on her question,  apparently my response was enough. 

My husband and I headed to the Dairy Queen for a Blizzard before we headed back to the airport.  I asked him “How much was your haircut?”  He said “I’m embarrassed to tell you.”  I looked at him for a response.  He said “$20 with the tip.”  That wasn’t so bad.  He said “Maybe when I need a haircut you could just fly me to get one that way you could get to fly and I could get my haircut.”  I said ” I was thinking of doing something a little more exciting with my pilot certificate than flying to get haircuts.”

We got back to the airport, I got an updated weather report, paid for the use of our courtesy car and preflighted the plane.  We were off for home with 3 signatures and a fresh haircut.  On the way home we flew over the south end of Sauk Centre and I announced my position relative to the airport.  “Sauk Centre Traffic, Cessna 4872B crossing south of the field from west to east at 5500, Sauk Centre, Traffic”  Then I heard the familiar voice of my CFI who was flying with a student just setting up to land at the Sauk Centre Airport.  They announced their position and then I was on to the St. Cloud Airport to land.  It was so good to hear her voice while I was in the plane and having her hear that I am being a safe pilot when she is not in the plane with me. 

As we neared the airport I listened to the updated ATIS and reset my altimeter for landing and called the tower “St. Cloud Tower, Cessna 4872B inbound for landing with information Romeo 10 miles west of the field.”  They responded “4872B report a 3 mile right base for Runway 13. ”  I repeated their radio call back and started to set up for my entry to the airport.  I reported my 3 mile right base entry and they responded “4872B cleared to land Runway 13”  We landed, taxied back to the General Aviation ramp, and shut down the plane.  It felt so good to be back up flying.  The bird’s-eye view of things is still my favorite even if it incorporates a $170 haircut.  $150.00 for the  use of the plane and $20.00 for the haircut.