steaming hot, liquid comfort

The day I graduated Cosmetology school I also got a job at a wonderful, high-end salon. I was not promised many hours to start, actually just the opposite. A few hours a week while I training, which could take up to three months. would start as a receptionist and work my way up to an assisting position.

I have to admit I wasn't thrilled about the desk part of the job. The phones really. I hate phones. Talking on them is an annoyance of mine. Unless I really know you, I'd much rather talk to you face to face than over some town-crossing wires. When it comes down to it, I just like to look at the person when I talk to them. I like to see their face, their eyes, their expressions and body language rather than trying to guess and imagine what their reaction might be. It's just easier for me. I am awkward on the phone. I know this, and I know why. I have accepted that, and that is why the phone answering part of my job really was my least favorite.

I worked there for about a month, just a few hours a week, sometimes getting called out due to a slow day at the salon. I swept floors, I stocked shelves, I straightened magazines. I made and confirmed appointments, learned my way around the computer system, and eventually became almost comfortable on the phone. Even though I was dying to get to the other side of the big, curved, blue wall that separated the stylists and hair doing from the receptionists, I told myself to be content. It was hard, but I started to accept it. If I wanted to be on that side of the blue wall I must first work through three months of desk training.

I also learned how to make espressos, and cappuccinos and that may have been my favorite part. :)

Behind the desk, I was able to see every one's schedule. I noticed that the Stylists that were working were booked up like it was the end of the world and everyone and their twice removed relatives couldn't leave this earth without good hair! I don't blame them. The art I saw walking out the salon doors was amazing, and I was jealous that is was on their head and not mine.

But I also noticed that the 2 individuals with Assisting positions had a few free hours a day... One of my friends from school was working with me. She was just bumped up from Reception to Assistant and was following the manager around, looking to something to do when she wasn't helping me at the desk, or shampooing a client.

It became evident that hours were scarce, but I didn't think on it. I was just happy to be into the first salon I had applied to, the one I had wanted to work at since I first started school.

But yesterday, just as I was finishing up, I got called into the office where I faced the salon manager and one of the owners. They don't have hours. They just don't. Especially in the weeks after the Christmastime holidays, it's very slow. They were disappointed. I had come highly recommended (in the areas of cosmetology), and they knew that I was the type of personality much more comfortable cutting off some one's hair than talking on the phone, but they weren't going to see that side of my personality, they didn't have enough hours.

I was given a list of Salons, their #'s, and the names of some of the owners. Apparently they had made some calls and told them about me, recommended me. "You really need to be in a salon where they start you off assisting. That's your strength, your talent. And we can't offer you that, not now." I smiled,nodded, and agreed where necessary, trying to keep the tears down.

"I wish we could keep you! But I can't promise you hours we don't have, it's not fair to you."

It was hard for everyone in that room. They wanted to keep me. I wanted to stay. But...hours...

I left calm and collected, being told that they'd have me coming in for the next couple of weeks.

I made it to the car, my eyes were stinging....I turned the key and cranked the tunes. I managed to keep my face free from salt water until I had made home and into my dining room.

Later that evening my mother took me out for some comfort. Starbucks. - She knows me well :) - and so we sat down in the big, abused, comfy, trademark-green, starbucks chairs, and watched the silver lane trafic go by, chatting about the days events over steaming beverages with fancy names like: Caramel Mocha Hot Chocolate, and Dirty Chai Soy Latte...

Steaming hot, liquid comfort warming our chilly hands. A pleasant way to end a devestating day.

And so -

Let the search for jobs begin...again...

" ... it's a dangerous business, going out your door...you step onto the road, and if you don't keep your feet, there's not knowing where you might be swept off to."

I've left my front door, I've been swept off by the wind. Now let's see where it'll take me and what adventures I'll have, shall we?