Photo by Engin Akyurt via Unsplash.
He is the keeper of secrets, a make-shift therapist. He has known you since before you had children and accepts you just the way you are. Seeing him is the only time you can relax. He is your hairdresser. Some women at Park Plaza Salon have been coming to see the same hairdresser for 40 years. They come once or twice a week for a shampoo and set. Their hair is set tight in green curlers, dried then styled and sprayed. The world swirls around, but the relationships and hairstyles remain the same. Assisted living caretakers or relatives escort some clients to appointments. The women sit back in the styling chairs swathed in pink, orange and turquoise smocks, recalling when they were socialites or models, photographed and featured in the newspaper. A few have dementia but respond to the nurturing, loving hands of their hairdressers. It’s a Friday morning at the salon, and the women emerge coiffed and ready for the day.
