me month

November is my favorite month. My birthday arrives smack in the middle of it, and I make every effort to guiltlessly pamper myself for at least the first two weeks.

On Tuesday evening I'm going for a loooong massage.

Today did the beauty salon ritual. This is not actually a fun thing to do, but I come out feeling much better about myself ... well, the way I look, anyhow. I frequently emerge more bitchy than I went in, on the other hand, having been kept waiting, then been pushed, prodded, moved around, and seemingly made lowest priority for two and a quarter hours while rock music blares and smoke drifts in from the open doorway where someone's always puffing right outside, and then finally gouged as well.

It really took too long today, and because I was getting "the works" --highlights, coloring roots, and cut-- I experienced genuine sticker shock when told what I owed: 540 shekels (about US$117 at today's rate). I didn't have enough money with me (and this is one place that doesn't take plastic, which is very unusual) as I thought it would only be around 400, and I was so upset I walked out without giving the shampoo and other assistant any tip. And I argued with my hairdresser about what he was charging me, which included 140 shekels ($30) for the 5-minute trim. This was ironic, since we'd had a discussion while he was wrapping highlighting strands with foils about how they'd just returned from a big hair expo in London and how ridiculous they'd found the outrageous amount of time some of those posers were spending on the smallest elements of a haircut (e.g. an hour on bangs alone) and I had said that my best stylists (including this one) had always been both fast and accurate. Still, fast for a whole haircut usually means 20 minutes. This was explicitly a trim, not a big deal; it took him literally 5 minutes, if that, and then I told him I didn't even need the blow-dry, as I was going to go home and play with it myself. And then he charges me the regular rate for a full haircut.

Anyway, I walked out pretty shocked, and owing him money, and felt I'd been rude to him, plus having stiffed the helpers. I raged about it all the way home and even though I was indignant I had that awful feeling in my gut that screams what a shit I've been, so I had to call and apologize. I blamed being tired and hungry and shocked at the price, and reiterated that I thought he should have compromised a bit, but admitted it really was a good cut that made a big difference (is it his fault he's fast?), so I would concede the point. As soon as I hung up, I felt much better.

I'm always sorry when I argue about prices. It's so not worth it for a few bucks.

Damn, I'm totally going soft. I just don't handle conflict the way I used to.