I love you, but . . .

A few years ago, I made a decision: instead of letting price decide where I went to get my hair done, I’d invest in the experience. While I may not splurge in tons of places in my life, this was one area where I was going to spend a little extra and allow myself to be pampered a little.

So, I started going to a nice salon in town, and I love the salon. I love my stylist, the hair products they sell, and the fact that they’ll bring me water (lemon or cucumber), coffee, or hot tea if I want some to enjoy while I’m waiting or my hair color is processing.

But there’s one little thing about the salon that drives me crazy: they have no concept of a middle class girl’s work schedule.

I’m not implying that they don’t work as much as I do. The stylists work long hours and long weeks and to get time off, they basically have to make up the hours they won’t be there. I respect them. But when I call for an appointment and ask for one in the afternoon, I’m always asked to consider 12:30 p.m. appointments or 2 p.m. or some other time that is in the middle of a normal workday. And when I ask for a later time, I always feel like the receptionist is a little confused and frustrated with me.

Sometimes, I just want to start in on a little tirade: I work. Every day. I get there at 7 or 7:30 and work until 4 or 4:30 or later. I don’t take an hour lunch usually. I can’t just leave work in the middle of the day for something as trivial as a hair appointment.

It could be that many of their customers have more flexible schedules than mine or are in positions where they can take off in the middle of that afternoon for a hair cut. But, I’m not in that position. I can’t make it into a lunch time appointment either, because it takes too long. Two-hour lunches are not something that really ever happen in my work week unless they involve a meeting!

I get that the “after-work” slots fill up fast and that may be why I always run into this problem, but I do wish it were a little easier to get one of those appointments—and that my fancy salon that I love were a little more in tune with the real-world life of a middle class girl who works hard . . . and budgets to be able to go there.