what (a relief)?

i care deeply about my hair. this is humbling to admit because for over a year i got my hair cut by a guy with dreadlocks on his back porch. a friend gave me a coupon to a nice salon in my area, so i decided to get my hair cut today.

i walk in and a Guster song is playing in the background. awesome. i set up to the counter and am offered a "beverage". fantastic. i sit down and begin my cut with a hair washing. phenomenal. absolutely nothing about this place says that this will be a bad haircutting experience.

then, after just 5 snips of the scissors, i hear a loud, high pitched "Ow!" in my ear and my stylist takes off running to the back of the salon. (oh, i decided to wear my glasses instead of my contacts today. so i had set my glass down, making it impossible for me to see or be visually aware of anything that's happening around me.) a minute later she returns to my chair and says, "hey....i cut my finger. so....i need to find someone else to finish your cut."

ok, first: what an incredibly awkward and embarrassing moment for her...and me. second: WHAT? you're calling in a relief stylist?!? totally unprecedented.

well, turns out i probably received the best haircut i've gotten in about 6 years. and, the relief stylist was a much more interesting person.....and she wasn't clumsy.