At Capacity

If ever there were a social media post that said everything I was too tired to say myself, it would be this one:

This is so ridiculously true that it nearly frightened me.

This is every single day.

Not to mention all the “extras” that happen on any given day. Like, for instance, yesterday when I had to dial 911 because there was a man lying in the middle of the street in front of the salon. And I got a busy signal.

Twice.

Can’t make this stuff up. Which is what we say multiple times a day, every day. The stories we hear, tell, and participate in, are countless, endless, priceless.

And exhausting.

Re-read that photo at the beginning. See all that mental back-and-forth? It’s difficult enough to read it in bullet-point form. Now imagine stretching it out by thirty to 120 minutes per subject. You end up in a full dive with the one who says, “I’m getting married!” Only to be slammed to earth by the one 45 minutes later who is getting divorced and drags you through their mire – for an hour-and-a-half.

It is a thing to have words coming at you for ten hours non-stop, but an even more taxing thing to have those words be comprised of such strong emotions. And even moreso the expectation of the client that you follow along, join in, take their side, and participate in their world. All-the-while performing a physical task that takes an entire section of brain power on its own.

Did I say exhausting?

Forget lunch, potty breaks, a phone call, returning an email – there’s no time for that. We run a tight schedule. Doctor’s offices could take a note or three.

We are our own best boss, and our own worst enemy.

But truth be told……we wouldn’t change a thing.

The beauty industry is a crazy, wild, fringe bunch of people that the rest of people can’t live without. We’re the friend, psychologist, consultant, confidant, doctor, psychiatrist, vet, mourner, celebrant, straight-talking, agreeing, challenging, coffee chugging, listening, full of life, exhausted, let’s go do it, clearinghouse, give you fabulous hair person you can’t live without.

And it’s our honor.

But it’s difficult to explain all of this to folks, when the perception is that we “just do hair.”

Oh, if it were only that simple.

By the end of the day, we don’t know our own names, and lord, we certainly can’t repeat your business because it’s been blended with ten other stories that we also can’t remember. Your secrets are safe with us. I can’t even go home and tell my husband who I saw that day. But three days later? “Oh yeah, Honey, Suzy Jane said to tell you hello.” “You saw Suzy Jane today?” “Haha no, three days or so ago? Maybe in the last two weeks? I can’t remember, I just know she said hello.”

And that’s how it is.

Because aliens are real, I’m getting married, I hate everybody, the economy stinks, I’m having a baby, I’m getting divorced, my husband left me, I have a new boyfriend, I lost everything, I just won the lottery……and my hair looks amazing!