Chit chat

Aside from how much it costs, I love getting my hair cut.  I especially love a good cut and color, one where you can really notice the difference from the before to the after.  I embrace change (most of the time) and find changing my outward appearance to be something of a cathartic experience.  

I have been frequenting the same salon for about six years now and have pretty much gotten the whole hair cut routine down pat.  I'm comfortable with my stylist and the environment of the salon, I know what to expect when I go in for an appointment, and I have always been pleased with the results and the service I receive.  However, there is one aspect of the whole hair cut ritual that I always struggle with, and that is the chit chatting. 

Now remember, I'm a self-proclaimed introvert so this obviously contributes to my struggle, but the whole chat bit involved with getting my hair done usually drains me.  Not to say that my stylist isn't a lovely person who is hard to talk to because that definitely isn't the case, it's just that chatting for the sake of chatting isn't really my thing.  It is, however, part of the whole haircut thing, meaning that like it or not, I have to participate.  Or at least attempt to participate. 

I've only been seeing this stylist for my last four or five appointments, so while we are definitely past the basic get to know you stage, we haven't quite hit the groove that I had with my last stylist, who did my hair for a good four years or more.  I know that talking to clients and keeping up conversation is practically a requirement for any beautician, so I myself feel obligated to talk and ask questions, sometimes more for their sake than for mine.  The crappy thing about that is that most of the time, I'm not the best conversationalist with people I don't know that well.  I always feel like I come off sounding awkward, like my silence might be interpreted as disinterest.   Sometimes I surprise myself and do great at small talk, other times I just don't have it in me.  I rack my brain for things to say, questions to ask, and some days I come up blank.  Maybe my stylist doesn't care or think it's a big deal, but it causes me some stress.  I mean, I don't want to come off as rude, but I also don't want to say something totally off the wall and sound like an idiot.  So you see, it's a fine line to walk successfully. 

I used to watch my mom at the hairdresser and be totally in awe.  She is such a pro at the talking stuff, she could probably list it as a skill on her resume.  She could keep up conversation not through one, but three haircuts.  These were the days when she, my sister and I would all go to our appointments together, and she and our hairdresser would just rattle on and on from one topic to the other.  Of course, it probably helped that they knew a lot of the same people, had known each other for many years, all that kind of stuff.  Regardless of the reasons, it sure made me a happy camper to just sit there in the chair, stare at myself in the mirror, and listen to them talk back and forth.  When I got older and started going to appointments on my own, during lulls in the conversation I would think back on those images of my mom and her effortless ability to carry on a conversation while getting her hair cut.  I realized it was definitely a lot harder than it looked (and sounded), and that I'd better start practicing. 

While conversation in the hair styling chair still isn't one of my strong suits, I do my best to partake in this ritual of the salon.  And if worse comes to worse, maybe I'll just start bringing my mom with me to hair appointments.....just to take the edge off.