The Hair Cut

I mentioned to Paul that if I didn’t get a hair cut today then we couldn’t do it before Monday.  My hair is bugging me.  We walked to "El Vagabundo" [The Vagabond] near the  Soriano grocery store that a couple of North American sisters have told me about—the local sisters say it is too expensive and I need to go to "B Yes" near Walmart that only cost 40 pesos.  We found El Vagabundo and Paul went inside with me where at least four ladies in red aprons were sitting there watching TV and waiting for customers.  We walked in and I remembered the rules:  no small talk; don’t give an personal information.  The girl asked how much to cut off and I showed her about an inch.  She used clips to hold other layers of my hair out of place while she cut with scissors which was a "first" in any country.  She sprayed and cut and was systematically working her way around my head.  I was actually ok with what she was doing but would have felt better had she not been looking up to watch the TV screen from time to time.  Paul said I was running competition with the soapbox shoes this morning.  The cost for a haircut is 110 pesos for women [$8.39] and 100 for men [$7.63].  I just figured a tip was in order but I hadn’t asked anyone how much was normal.  So I probably wasn't generous--I will have to ask those in the know.  I think she did a good job on my hair and I certainly feel a lot better now!

The rest of the story is that I consulted with Sister Day on how much we should have tipped the girl and we didn't give her enough--as I had suspected.  So we went back to El Vagabundo on the next Monday and I recognized the girl and walked in and said I hadn't given her enough the week before and I was sorry.  She was quite thrilled.  I am sure we have made a friend.