Back to Work Travel: My first haircut in a year.
This week I’m taking my first work trip since February 2020. Flying from California to Texas. Looking back on my Uber app, the last ride was March 2020. There were 12 transactions that month. Wow. I forgot how little I was driving then. Flashback to an earlier time. I spent $258 that month on Uber. $30, $14, $9, $23, $11, $28, etc. Around $700 the few months before that. Then, nothing. For fourteen months. I had to reload the Uber app, enter my credit card expiration date. Here we go. The post-COVID work world.
I’m 60 days into my new Director role with my new team. I transferred from a different department post-merger. My clients are hospitals. I’ve been working remotely since October 2019. Traveling some back then -- Florida, Philadelphia, Minnesota, sprinkled with some personal travel to Tennessee, Missouri and Chicago -- returning on my last flight in February 2020. There was talk on the news. My parents had just returned from visiting my sister in South America. Patagonia, Argentina. It was just past Valentine’s Day and we started to hear about COVID.
Like my last Uber ride, my last haircut (and salon visit for anything) was in March 2020. Could I get away without a haircut on my work trip? Umm. No. I’ve been thinking about this of course, that I need a haircut, but something was holding me back from making a salon appointment. Maybe it’s the comfort of not re-entering the world yet. I’m starting slowly with restaurants. But now it’s the airport. Airplanes. Uber. Hair. Hotel conference rooms. More decisions to follow. Do I go back to the salon for nails and waxing or keep driving to my friend’s house 40 minutes away who has been my COVID salon?
I’ve had plenty of doctors’ appointments for my diabetes. Endocrinology, Primary Care, OB-GYN, pharmacy, labs & radiology. Switching my insurance from Kaiser to Aetna to Kaiser over the last ~2 years. Navigating working life with insulin, needles, monitoring my A1C, Dexcom, diet, exercise. It was easy to let non-essential appointments go. A relief. I enjoyed my safety these last fourteen months.
But here we are, back to the real world. Back to getting haircuts. Back to trying on work clothes from last year. Reloading the Southwest app. Uber, Lyft. Packing my suitcase. My diabetes supplies. How many masks do I bring? Do I need a more stylish mask? How will it be wearing a mask for three hours on the plane so close to strangers? In the conference rooms? Out at happy hour in Plano, TX, with my boss and team?
It’s a good thing. But not without some anxiety and rebooting.
I called two salons and left voice messages before looking up Supercuts. You know, Supercuts! You might not remember their model. I didn’t. I put my name on the waiting list online and within 45 minutes I was sitting there. I requested the shampoo wash (interesting, that is an option?) but she had me sit and started spraying and combing and spraying and I decided to let her take the lead. No shampooing? O…K…?!
“How many inches off?” said Jane, the name on her displayed professional certification.
We decided 5 inches. No, 6 inches. “Has it been a year?” she said. I nodded. “Yes!” I know. Quite a while.
“Layers?” she asked. “No!”
She kept combing and spraying and cutting. Saying how healthy it will look. Recommending I come every 3-4 months, normally every 2 months, but 3-4 is ok since I like it long. My Dexcom went off. I was going high. We were done in 15 minutes. It was like entering another model completely. I haven’t considered what it’s like to get a haircut without washing and shampooing it. Without the conditioners. Fancy creams and gels. Without a blow dry.
Note: I have long hair which helps. If it was terrible I could go somewhere else and “clean it up”. But you know what? It was the best experience. I’m glad I took the leap.
Here are five takeaways from my first haircut in fourteen months.
It took no more than 15 minutes from the minute I walked in. I only decided to go at all 45 minutes before, sitting at my house, looking on their website for the next time available (same day only sign ups online).
There was clear, positive communication when I sat down. How many inches? (6) Do I want any layers? (No) U-shape or more straight? (Straight, mostly)
Price: $19! (plus tip) This was an unexpected surprise. At a time when everything is going up, my haircut is $19? Even if you sprinkle it in between fancier $100+ haircuts (I don’t color my hair) — a cool dollar saved now is a cool dollar & fifty cents earned later. More money saving tips later!
I felt in control. Less stress with appointment planning. I decided I wanted a haircut and I went and got it.
MOST IMPORTANT: A reminder that I don’t need (or want) all the bells and whistles to have a quality result, timely and efficiently. Like my experience during COVID, there are other models of doing things. A hybrid world is emerging for me like many others. What will that look like? What do I want it to look like?
After washing my hair and letting it dry, I confirmed:
I love my haircut! Unexpected joy from the Supercuts experience. Happiness in the simplicity most of all.
Wish me luck on my flight. Next decision: How much hand sanitizer to bring?