When I arrived right on time for my 10:30 appt, I wasn't greeted in a normal way. It felt like I'd…read morewalked into someone's party to which I hadn't been invited. But when I explained I actually had an appointment, I was directed by Erin--who was supposed to be my stylist--to take a seat in the small spot acting as a waiting room. She introduced herself from the nearby chair (maybe 10-12 feet away from me) while she was working on her client's hair. I sat down. The client said softly to Erin, "Sorry," presumably for exceeding the length of the appt, but that's not her fault obviously. Erin said loudly, "I'm not! I knew this was going to take a long time!" Because this is a small shop, I'm new, and I'd already felt like I'd intruded where I wasn't welcome, I said, "Oh, I'm in no hurry!" But I wondered, if she knew her service was going to exceed the time frame she'd booked for her client, why did she book me in that time frame?
And 20 minutes passed. No acknowledgment of me. No offer of water, coffee, nothing. No gratitude for my patience. I didn't exist. Or, worse. I felt they wanted me to leave. During this time, Erin gossiped with her client, asked her client if she wanted her to rewash her hair, she cut every single hair in the client's bangs and then went over them again (I've really never seen anything so vain--though I'm sure it was an awesome cut), curled the hair again, cut another hair, talked about so and so's husband and then paused for awhile to just gape at her work and to talk some more. And never once a nod toward my existence. I wanted to cry. It felt deliberately mean girl.
So, I stood up and put on my coat. At that, Erin asked, "Are you cold?" I said no, "I'm leaving." And I think the client asked, "You're leaving?" But not a word from Erin or the other stylist there. And I left.
No one cared that a client left. No one has contacted me. This was so mean. Living a block away, this experience was a disappointment for me with the Tenney-Lapham business district.