As a hair stylist with two decades of experience, I've been in my fair share of photographs. First haircuts, hair donation cuts and wedding updos all come with the expectation that there will be a camera lens present that will snap some serious unflattering photos. Honestly, this never bothered me as the main focus for the photos were my clients. It goes with the territory.
I do not, however, expect nor appreciate having a client SnapChat their way through the entire hair service, capturing me alongside their duckface pouty lip poses. I get that sometimes it's necessary for the person in my chair to be on their phone, texting or showing me a photo of what they want their cut to look like. That is completely different than sitting in the chair bobbing your head around while some attempts to provide a service you are paying for. I don't want my reputation adversely affected by a shitty haircut I had no control over because your ass wouldn't sit still and you insisted on continuing to look down at your phone and pose for photos with zero regard for my time.
There is an irritating side to doing hair that I will not miss once I have finally cut the cord on my fucking clippers. Don't get me wrong, my friends and family are great and I have no issues continuing to cut, color and style their hair - as a matter of fact, I'd have a tough time adjusting to someone else being their stylist. The clientele that comes with working in a salon or barbershop, while most often enjoyable, tend to expose people in this line of work to irritable behavior.
You do not have my permission to film, snap or Instagram my face, arm, body or what-have-you while I am trying to do my job. Unless there is a reason for photographs to be taken while you are in my chair, sit down and be still. I am not a backdrop or prop for your impromptu and inappropriate self-absorbed, selfie photo shoot. If you cannot be without your phone long enough to pay attention to the cut I am giving you, no, I will not go shorter and endure another 20 minutes of constant moving and posing into your phone.
This kind of rudeness is most often an issue with millennials...and in my experience equal among gender. Teenagers that are allowed by their parents to indulge themselves antisocial and narcissistic behaviors without redirecting them are the bane of this world. What is wrong with people? Teach your children to be respectful of the people around them and exist without having to document every single breath and action for social media to see. It's a fucking haircut. Unless it's your first or you're doing something incredibly drastic, put the fucking phone away and let me do my job without having to slouch and contort myself to reach and cut at the right angle.
Parents, do your kid's stylist a favor and take their damn phone away for 20 goddamn minutes. Teach them that sitting still is necessary, as is learning to interact with people in all professions and walks of life. Respect, consideration and being present are valuable and sorely lacking attributes in the world today. Can we please bring them back?
I am forever grateful my sons are aware of the world around them and how to appropriately interact with those in it. I hope that there will be more like them out there when they venture out to start their lives. If not, may the lessons and values they learned at home keep them from becoming part of the problem and instead willingly be part of the solution. Rant over.
No comments:
Post a Comment