Winter quarter. No more comfy, windowless classrooms. No more specific, well thought-out lesson plans. It is winter quarter, and we’ve been thrown headfirst into the dark, cold waters of taking clients. We’re out in the salon, now. We are expected to be able to cut, perm, color, and style hair, to give manicures, pedicures and facials, and to be able to wax just about any part of the body. It is absolutely terrifying.

It’s one thing, you see, when you’re sequestered in the back of the building in a room with 10 other girls who know as little about this stuff as you do, hacking away at the mop attached to the top of your manikin’s head. If that manikin decides to stop cooperating during a haircut (because it’s alway’s the manikin’s fault you just sliced your finger, not yours), you can beat the manikin to death with a cushion brush. Or stab her in the face with a foil comb. Or drop her on the floor and kick her across the room. It is very satisfying. But alas, none of these things are legal to do to a real client. And this makes the entire process much more difficult.

But so far, my clients have been incredibly sweet and patient. Especially my very first client, a darling little old lady named Mary. Mary came in for a haircut and a roller set, but when she got there I saw that it had been a looooooong time since her last hair color, so I suggested we add that service in since I had time. I don’t know what the hell I was thinking, being so ambitious on my first day, but she was so sweet and it really needed to be done and we both had time, so… Anyway, those three services ended up taking a grand total of five and a half hours. First of all, I’m still slow because I’m new, but on top of that an instructor also has to come and check every step before you can move on. The instructors are few, and the students are many, and so unfortunately there is a lot of waiting involved for our clients. But Mary was a dream, just so calm and patient, relaxing in her chair while I flitted about in a panic. I had no freaking idea what I was doing. But it ended up looking pretty good in the end. Mary reminded me of that old woman from Titanic. Rose, I think her name was? Remember her?

What a doll. Hopefully she’ll come in again this week for another roller set, and then I just may have myself a regular client! It’s scary and stressful, but I love it. It’s so great meeting new people all day and learning so much. My long term goal is to have a packed schedule by the time I graduate- all clients, all the time. That would make finding a job in the real world so much easier, if I come with an already established regular clientele. I think I can do it.

My short term goal is to get my cop neighbor to come in for a haircut while wearing his uniform. I need to get me some respect around that joint, hoss.