The hairdressers’ had a really cute dog, and that was primarily why I’d chosen it. After walking in to make my appointment the day before, the guy I saw was gushing about what he was going to do with my hair (anything would have been an improvement at that point to be honest). I was almost looking forward to it.

Having made the sale yesterday, today he was totally different. A smart looking businessman entered, and he immediately reassigned a new girl to me and moved on to him. I absolutely hate going to the hairdressers’ anyway, so this didn’t improve my mood – until the dog came over to me wanting to play.

“Do you want to come over to the chair?” the hairdresser asked.
“No, I want to stay with the dog,” I replied.

She laughed like I was joking.

The new girl was lovely. In between doing my hair, she was chirpily asking the other staff what she could help with, whether they needed the floor sweeping, things like that. They mostly just shut her down or told her to do a small job and then took it away from her before she could do it. No matter how many times she was condescended to or knocked back, she didn’t falter. I can only dream of being that nice and patient, it’s not in my DNA

Maybe it was because my hair was in the state of being ignored for 2 years (beyond washing & brushing).
Maybe it was because she did a really good job in spite of constant knock backs.
Maybe it was because I wanted to say f you to the original hairdresser.
Maybe I admired her attitude and her passion for her work.
Maybe it was because I felt an underdog/ignored/rejected affinity with her.
Or maybe I was still half thinking about the dog.

Whatever it was, my mouth was faster than my brain (story of my life), so I blurted out a random number to put on for the tip.

She went bright red. A huge smile appeared on her face, mixed with shock and disbelief.

(I should add here that it wasn’t a crazy amount of money, but probably more than you’d expect for a hairdresser tip, especially at that age).

“Are you sure??” she said. The senior woman with her smiled and said, “She’s never had a tip like that before.”

(Not really surprising when you’re taking all the rich-looking customers for yourselves).

It made me happy that she was so happy. There’s not a single thing I could have bought with that amount of money that would have made me as happy as it made her. It was more than just money, it was long-overdue recognition.

I can’t make other people appreciate her more. But if I can do a little something to make her appreciate herself more, it counts for something.