Tag: covid

It’s not just hair. We all know that now.

About a decade ago, I was working at a grocery store/Starbucks. We had a regular customer who came in almost daily, “so what are your plans AFTER this?”, He would ask to whichever barista was serving him. He was a doctor, an anesthesiologist I believe. I would bite my tongue at the implications that this COULDN’T be someone’s lifelong job choice. I chose to see it as a, “you’re all so young! What are your dreams?” type situation.

One day he asked me. “I’m in beauty school! I graduate this fall!”. I was excited that I had an answer. It’s funny isn’t it? How much of our worth we put in which career we take? Anyway, he responded, “and then what?” And I stopped. What does he mean? “Well, then I take the state boards, get my license, and hopefully get a job at a good salon”. Then he repeated. “And then what?” I asked him what he meant. He told me that it would be a good job to get through college, but what will my REAL job be someday?

To be honest, 26 year old Beth wasn’t ready for that shit. Now, 36 year old Beth would have had so many words, so many thoughts, and so many insults for this man. But young Beth? She pretended to need to do something and walked away.

Fast forward to 2020. Guys. People were losing their damn minds because they couldn’t get into the salon. I had clients (of like 8 years) go to another state out of desperation. There were literally protesters with signs. It was at the point, we were making home kits with waivers. It was insane. Our salon was trying to get ready to open, AND THERE WAS NOTHING. Freaking people bought that shit up. What do we do? How do we stay safe? Where are the effing masks and barbicide???

You don’t remember that. Because that’s not your livelihood. We remember. We listened every time the governor spoke, wondering if we were going to open. Wondering if we would have what we needed to be safe for our clients.

Thought I should add here (quick one paragraph segway, promise), I am from Michigan, and our Governor has done an amazing job of keeping us safe and flattening our curve. (Go big Gretch!) That being said, there was a point I was like, “so…like…your man have an affair with his stylist? Or what? What did we ever do to you??” But in reality, she kept us closed until the proper equipment and gear we needed to be safe was available. Again, go Gretch!

Back to my post. Your stylist. Your hairdresser. Your barber. That person that makes you feel like you. THEY MATTER.  It seems silly to say, but this last year has made it clear. We ARE important. I have been shamed, put down, dismissed, etc., Because of what I do. But you know what? I heard more about people getting into their stylist than any other damn thing. When we shut down again this fall, you know what DIDN’T shut down? Salons. Because people would have FLIPPED OUT.

You need us. And that’s not a bad thing. I take a lot of pride in making my clients feel like they can take on the world. Making people feel like the best version of themselves. Admit it. Appreciate it.

Do you know I made 75% of my normal income this year? Many reasons. High risk clients waiting it out. People that let their grey come in, and want to see how it goes. Eyelash clients that don’t feel confident in the close proximity. Many things. So, if you are reading this, you need to think about your stylist. What have they been through? What do they risk for YOU. What have they given up to keep being there for you? Show them love. Make sure you let them know you see their sacrifice and love for their trade. Our salon was able to stay open. But, so, so many had to close.  Did you know that? Do you care about what we’ve been through? You’re worried about your roots, we’re worried about paying our bills.

One last thing. Why the fuck aren’t stylist on the vaccine list? We literally touch people for a living. Droplets? Who cares about that shit when we are touching people and standing near them for 30min-2hours? Aerosol? Isn’t it supposed to be like 10-15min? GIVE US THE VACCINE.

Literally this blog was to make you realize you love your stylist, and that we’ve been forgotten (THERE WERE SIGNS AND ANGRY KAREN’S! HOW DID YOU FORGET ABOUT US), and we just want to be vaccinated and make our clients feel like the best versions of themselves.

Anyways. Someone who knows shit, get cosmetologists, barbers, massage therapists, and LITERALLY anyone who touches people, a way to get vaccinated. Please.

SEE US. WE MAKE YOU NOT LOOK LIKE SWAMP TROLLS.

Also, we just don’t want do die or to accidentally kill someone because we’re exposed. Give us a vaccine, tip us well, and appreciate the sacrifice we have made for you.

Also, don’t go to the salon if you have symptoms. We are literally at your mercy. Don’t ruin our lives by lying. We will accommodate a reschedule.

Universally appalling topics should be unifying

I remember years ago asking, “what happened to Ashton Kutcher? Like, he was in SO MUCH stuff, and then just kind of disappeared. And someone told me, “well, he started working against child sex trafficking. So who in Hollywood is going to hire him?”

He and Demi started Thorn in 2012. I remember watching, and crying, to the video of him testifying to the Senate years later, and thinking “yeah right. Those politicians aren’t going to do anything. I bet they’re part of all that shit”.

I remember thinking Cory Feldman was crazy and it was his years of drug abuse that made him a nut ball. And then I read an interview about the Hollywood child sex ring. This poor man has been screaming and begging for help for decades. And no one listened.

I see posts about it all up and down my newsfeed about child trafficking. Which, I’m glad to see people wanting the truth exposed and an end to it. Amazing. Exactly what needs to happen. Shedding light on this topic is how we end it. But something about some of the posts I’ve seen has been not been sitting right with me. I’ve been trying to figure out what it is.

It’s because, while I was asking if people thought Chester Bennington and Chris Cornell’s deaths were because of exposing child abuse, people laughed at me and called me a conspiracy theorist. It’s because when I stood with #metoo, people rolled their eyes and said the movement was just people feeling “triggered”. Because when I brought up the rape allegations of Trump in 2016, people laughed and told me told me they were just lies. It because I asked why there were kids in cages, and how our government could LOSE thousands of children, people ignored, downplayed, or redirected the subject. And now? There are a bunch of people that keep bringing up this horrid thing as A COMPARISON OF horrific things, to dismiss BLM and Covid19.

I want every single pedophile found out. All of them. Every politician. Every star. Every single person who has hurt a child. ALL OF THEM. I am thankful for every victim that has come forward. For every star willing to sacrifice their careers to fight against it. So what about these memes is sitting with me wrong? It is sitting with me wrong because people are attaching a political agenda to their memes and posts.

I am glad you all are appalled about child trafficking. Because we need people to be appalled. We need people to fight for justice for every child that has been hurt. But if you are using all of this as a way to downplay another issue, then you’re USING it, not HELPING it.

If your meme says anything like, “people are talking about *insert topic* while there’s a child sex ring going on. But that’s none of my business” or whatever, you stop that shit. Yes it’s great you are now learning about stuff. But quit using false equivalence to push whatever agenda you’re pushing. You can be appalled about many topics at once.

Pedophiles are evil. We all agree on that. So quit attaching something we ALL AGREE needs to be exposed and fixed, to something unrelated. If your post is about downplaying a topic, and not about promoting the stop of trafficking, then it’s divisive and it’s distracting from the the problem we all want solved.

Stop that shit. I have spent the better part of a decade standing against this. And I’m sick of people using it to create division. This should be the most unifying thing we ever stand against.