My Stupid Sign

I went to get my hair done last week at Images. I’m hair-shopping to find the right fit. I’m hair-monogamous, but I’ve just decided that 70KD is more than I am willing to spend every 6 weeks (that's like a car payment). I had been going to Strands for 4 years and prior to that, to Cutting Edge for 4 years. @70 kd/every 6 weeks – well, you do the math.

When I got the bill at Images, it was way more than I expected (and I wasn’t happy with the outcome). When I first asked, lady said 25 KD for highlights. I asked her to put in 4 brown strands. For that, she charged me 15 KD. That’s a whole lot of money for a little bit of effort- and we’re not talking a Western big-time salon, either. Ok, no biggie. Perhaps my mistake. I didn’t stop to ask how much it would be. She asked me to come back in a week for a conditioning treatment. ‘How much?’ “11 KD” Ok, no biggie. Got the conditioning treatment. Went to pay…. “15 KD”
‘What? You told me 11 KD’
“Oh noooooo, you must have misunderstood.’

I have never misunderstood so much (apparently) as I have in Kuwait. Why do you think that is? Perhaps that I’m foreign and Western and I have a big sign on my forehead saying, “STUPID”?

This is why I record all my meetings – just so that we are all on the same page. According to some, I "misunderstood" during meetings as well - until, quite ironically, I started recording (and handing out either meeting minutes or CD in whatever format they preferred). It's a MIRACLE! People actually became a lot nicer to me during meetings: Attitude adjustment. Go figure. Maybe I should start recording all my salon sessions also? Just so we are all on the same page. Ridiculous! I know what she said.

The 11 vs 15 discussion continued into an argument. In Kuwait, one must fully understand that THE CUSTOMER IS ALWAYS WRONG. You must always just hand over your money to whoever and let it go because that is your place as a customer: You're stupid; Salesclerk is always a Rhodes scholar. Everybody knows it. So then, they then hand me their price list - “for next time” – so I won’t “misunderstand”. Let me let you in on a little secret – there won’t be another time. For a whopping 4KD, they lost a potential long-term customer (refer to the last sentence in Paragraph 1 above). They can keep their price list; I have no need for it.

I was about to book a massage. Miss Thang (although very nice) stood there the entire time saying, “What about your massage, Madame?” I told her, ‘You told me 25 KD for the massage. What does it really run – around 40?” Just so she doesn’t misunderstand.

Images used to tout themselves as “Western” because they had ONE stylist from the States. She doesn’t work there anymore. For 25 KD for a massage, I can go to the spa at Crowne Plaza and bask in luxury. Why would I want to do it in a converted apartment on the corner of a highway in Salmiya? I can do that for 5 KD at other little places in Salmiya, by the way.

As for my hair, it's fuched. I have had several "hair advisors" look at it and tell me that I have 3 months before it gets back into condition again. 70 KD isn't looking so terrible right now. Oh well, my hair shopping will continue. I have heard good things about Femme Fatale in Mangaf (not to be mistaken with La Femme Fatale who stole their name and logo image - as they do in Kuwait when a business is successful).