16. PERMING

This week has been quite hectic and exhausting. It began Sunday night when my husband had a bunch of his friends over for the Superbowl, and I lost count of how many glasses of wine I consumed. Needless to say, Monday was unbearable! I had planned to study all day for my chemistry exam that evening. I tried everything to wake myself up out of the self-induced stupor, coffee, fluids, cold shower, even going for a walk, but nothing helped.

I basically stumbled into class, and was happy to see that my fellow classmate, Cassy, was in the same dire position as I was. I ended up getting 100% because the test really wasn't that hard (although I'd like to take credit for my conscientious studying). Then I lucked out, as Mr. Sanchez gave us the option of having class time or sitting in on an inservice given by a master colorist. Of course I jumped at the latter as did Cassy, and we sat stupefied until we were allowed to go home. I am getting too old to drink and am seriously going to limit my consumption from now on.

We are learning how to perm hair and all the chemicals that are involved with the process. The pH scale is now my new friend, and I spent Tuesday night dreaming of neutralizing hair. The one thing that scares me is doing damage to someone else's hair. Mr. Sanchez has shared some horror stories with us about inexperienced hairstylists and the havoc they have caused on unsuspecting clients. I pray not to become a statistic.

Again I am amazed at the science behind all these processes, and how much knowledge is needed of the chemical interactions before one can/should proceed with any application. I still think of my husband's hairstylist with befuddlement.

Another teacher has joined the school. I had mentioned before that they are short handed. Ms. Green is a seasoned stylist, with over 30 years in the industry. She started the class by handing out a "quiz" which was a set of instructions that required you to do numerous things such as calling things out when you came to a certain instruction, standing up at another, etc. Somewhere in my gut I knew this was a trick. It turned out that the first instruction was to read all instructions carefully. The second instruction was to write your name on the paper. After this you weren't supposed to do anything. You didn't find this out until the last instruction which told you to go back and look at instructions #1 and 2: after this, if you had read all the way down following instruction #1, you never would have proceeded beyond instruction #2. I felt foolish, but it did open my eyes to not jump first but to take the time to read things through.

The funny thing about this is that Mr. Sanchez was out of the room when she gave us this "quiz." So when he came back into the classroom, she asked if he'd like to participate, and while we continued learning about perm solutions, we watched as he shouted things out, stood up, etc. all the while trying not to laugh. Ms. Green was truly impressed with the knowledge we had gained about the chemical solutions, and sincerely stated that she thought we were a really bright bunch of students, and asked who had already taught us so much. I pointed to Mr. Sanchez and stated "that guy there who just flunked your quiz." Everyone got a good laugh-it was cute.

So Ms. Green is a tough cookie, and you can't slide with mediocre work. She is a perfectionist, and her motto is "time is money," so she teaches in a fashion that requires you to work efficiently. I think I'm going to like her.

I am going out of town and will miss 2 days of school which I am not happy about. I come home on Wednesday and plan to go straight to school from the airport as I have an exam on Wednesday AND Thursday on perms, relaxers, and curl reformation, as well as the history of these processes.

I am hating work more so than usual, probably because I am enjoying cosmetology so much in comparison. I am seriously considering finding a job in a salon for the experience and stopping the nursing which I absolutely despise except for the money. I am sick of traveling to see patients, sick of coming into the office and not having a desk or computer to work on since the owners have a computer system that doesn't allow more than 2 users on at once, and they are on the computer most of the day (a good deal doing personal stuff as well as looking at semi-nude photos of Brooklyn Decker). The office is the size of a large bedroom, and we are on top of each other all day. One of the owners' wives calls constantly bitching and complaining, while the others' texts him all day. It's like watching two teenagers. I am pounded for ideas for marketing though this is not part of my job. When they go out for lunch (they have yet to ask if I'd like for them to pick something up for me), I then have to listen to the office manager who bitches about her health non-stop but does nothing about it. Once they pass the state survey I think I will give notice.