My Mullet.
Yes, you read that correctly, I had a mullet. I'm not talking about the kind that was cool in the 80's, you know the haircut your parents gave you. I also don't live in a redneck city where such a haircut may be found acceptable. I was in high school. More accurately, I was about to GRADUATE high school. It all begin just a mere 3 days before graduation...
I had the overwhelming desire to look great. What girl doesn't want to look perfect for such a special day in their lives. So I wanted to do the most obvious thing - get my haircut. I just wanted a nice trim, to just update my look a bit. My mom was against such an idea. She told me "why don't you wait until after graduation to cut your hair". She kept telling me it wasn't a good idea. Boy was she ever right.
I didn't listen and had my dad {always the one to go against my mom's word} take me to get a haircut. We went to Great Clips {more like horrid clips in my experience} and I decided to just get it cut a few inches. I told my stylist, who by the way was a pale skinned black lady named CARMELLA. Yes, as in Carmel, the color of her skin. Anyway, I told her that I would like it trimmed up a few inches and would like some layers starting mid-ear so I could still tuck it back a bit. She seemed to understand and went to work.See where this is going? I watched her cut away, and I just sat there, in a state of shock. When she finished she handed me the mirror and spun me around to approve of her handy work. I'm telling you now, it looked more like something Edward Scisscorhands did to me than a trained stylist. If you can imagine this I had it cut up to shoulder length, I had 3 BLUNT layers {you know, like the old school bowl on the head and cut around it look - no blending in at all, just obvious blunt cuts} and she was soo kind as to leave me a mullet shape, you know, short on the sides but long on the back, and a rat tail. Yep, a blunt layered, mullet with a rat tail. This folks was my pre-graduation hair cut.
{the first picture is more realistically what it looked like.... the second picture is how I FELT I looked}
I didn't know what to do, I don't think I even said anything, my dad just paid and we walked out in a silent horror. I got in his truck and flipped down the visor mirror and lost it. I sobbed all the way home. My dad of course felt bad for me, but being soo supportive he planted himself on the hallway floor while I admired Carmella's handy work and he sang. He sang and eventually danced down the hall to Billy Ray Cyrus'" Don't Tell My Heart, My Achy Breaky Heart" - you know, because Billy Ray was the king of country mullets. {the rat tail was my original hair length - so several inches long...}
The manager from the wrong Great Clips told my mom to bring me in and she would try and fix my hair for free the next day. I had to suffer through this hair cut for a full day. I went to school with my hair in a ponytail, and refused to take it down for anyone to take a picture of. There is no photographic proof of this experience.When we finally made it to a different Great Clips to have it fixed by the nice manager she laughed. Yes, a professional laughed at me. She took down my pony tail and said "wow, I'm soo sorry, but she ruined your hair". She was kind enough to start all over, my hair ended up being chin length with short layers and some bangs in order for her to make it look good. Of course it wasn't what I wanted, but I happily accepted it looking better. On Graduation day everyone thought I had the cutest short haircut - if only they knew the truth.
Carmella was sent back to training and was on desk duty for a while until she proved she knew what she was doing. Her only response to the situation was "well, some people like haircuts like that and ask for it". We have made jokes at her expense, as in "that's like naming a white person Marshmella". Hope that doesn't offend anyone, but it made me feel better. I also received $100 worth of free product and hair care from Great Clips in hopes of keeping me as customer. I used it all on products and never went back of course. I have also never gotten more than just a trim to my hair. I am terrified of hair cuts now.
That is my story. Learn from it please. Speak up WHILE someone is cutting your hair if you need to, don't just watch in a stupid horror.
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