Occupy Selena: Occupy My Hair

Supercuts, circa 1930

Being a 99 percenter, my choice of salon for a haircut is either Supercuts or myself. I used to trim it myself when I had long, unlayered hair (and didn’t mind telling people it was crooked because I had to cut a wad of gum out of it). Now that my hair is short, layered and curly, I opt for a professional. Or in this case, Supercuts.

I’m only kidding about referring to Supercuts as unprofessional. I’ve had great haircuts and lousy haircuts there—but I’ve also had great and lousy haircuts at expensive salons. One time I paid close to a hundred dollars for a trim and a body wave and wound up with a ‘do that made me look exactly like my hairdresser: a cheap ‘80s hooker. In contrast, last time I got the best haircut EVER—for a grand total of $18.50. Strangers were complimenting me on my locks (hair, that is, not mechanism for securing something…)!

So stepping into Supercuts is a bit like playing Russian Roulette. And yesterday was the day I got the bullet.

I asked the hairstylist to give me a healthy trim; since it had been 6 months since my tresses had seen a pair of scissors, I told her not to be shy and lop off a good three inches. But female stylists are always shy. I think because they’re so afraid of going short themselves, they assume that all gals are. But not this one. She started to measure and trim and snip.

“Shorter!” I ordered like I was General Patton.

“Are you sure?” she said, frowning.

How dare she question me. Surely I know what I want. “Of course!”

“Really?” she piped up one last time.

“YES!”

And then she was done. I looked at my new haircut in the mirror—front, sides, back. And…

It was TOO short. Gulp.

I felt her eyes boring into the back of my head.

“Well?” she asked, her voice rich with accusation.

I smiled meekly up at her. “It’s perfect,” I said and hopped out of the chair.

For the rest of the day, I cringed when I saw myself in window reflections and mirrors. It’s not that it’s a bad ‘do, and it’s not like I haven’t had it this short before. It’s just that this time I had something different in mind.

I wanted fun Amelia Earhart...