Message ID: c0dfee$12oa5q$1@ID-202214.news.uni-berlin.de
I am a hairdresser at a neighborhood beauty salon. Yesterday, a woman came into the shop to get highlights and a haircut. This is a two-hour process. Unfortunately, she brought along her 6-year-old son, 4-year-old daughter and 3-week-old baby.
After five minutes, the two older children were bored and the baby was hungry. This is a very busy salon, and apparently, the woman assumed the other customers would amuse her two older children while she fed the infant. And she's doing that while I'm working on her hair!
This woman made her appointment two weeks in advance. Surely she could have found a baby sitter. Don't you find this rude?
-- Utterly Speechless in Connecticut
Dear Speechless:
It's not only rude, it is dangerous for the children. Beauty operators work with a number of harsh chemicals, not to mention sharp scissors and hot dryers. Children should not be running around in salons, and holding an infant on your lap while the hairdresser is coloring your hair is the height of parental irresponsibility. We know it's not always easy to find a sitter, but when you can make an appointment weeks in advance, there's simply no excuse to bring the kids.
If your salon does not have a policy regarding children, now is the time to bring it in. If the owner of said salon seems loathe to display some back bone in this matter, using the words "not equipped" "dangerous" and "lawsuits" will probably have some meaning.
The all-pervading entitlement attitude of parents should really come as no surprise to anyone. It probably never even entered her placenta-leeched brain that the rest of the patrons would be in no way inclined to provide her with childcare while she had her hair done. After all, her children are so CYOOOTE, and ADORABLE. Any suggestion to this woman that a salon was not an appropriate place for her kids and that other patrons and staff are not in anyway interested or obligated to watch her kids would have brought a bovine stare of disbelief, followed by outraged lowing. She may then issue threats never to darken your door again and "tell all her friends".
Fact is, if she can afford a 2 hour treatment in a salon, she can afford a sitter. If she tells all her friends, so much the better: it will keep those who have kids from bringing them in, and those without will flock to your doors. And here's a secret - even women with kids don't want to be bothered with someone else's kids when they have some time for themselves. Put your foot down and they will beat a path to your door.
Childfree Abby
The ChildFree Abby Archives - http://www.dismal-light.net/childfreeabby/