irrational fears and scary hair dreams

In 6 weeks I start the advanced clinic for school.

I get to go on the floor and actually deal with people.

Real...Live...People.

Not that it scares me. I have been cutting and coloring hair for years.

But my biggest fear is that I might (gulp) mess someone up.

And not because ofsomething I did wrong These irrational fears are never my fault. It is always the customers fault. When people want their hair done they are in a "now" moment and will lie through their teeth to get what they want. I have seen it at school, I hear about it all day long. Trust me, you have a lady hellbent on highlights she will leave with highlights come hell or highwater.

My greatest fear is that I will have someone sit in my seat who swears to me up and down they have a lye relaxer. They know it in their heart of hearts. So I give them a Lye relaxer touch up.

Turns out they had a thio relaxer instead, and I just put a lye based relaxer onto their head, effectively creating Nair and burning all their hair off, rendering them as bald as Gordon on Sesame Street. They will  promise me they have had no metallic dyes put on their hair(like the Just for men etc), only the store bought Ultress or Clairol.

So I go ahead and color them them and it turns out they are mistaken. They have been using a metallic dye and their hair turns neon green, unfixable, and no amount of red based color can fix it, I am forced to shave their head.

Or they tell me they want to cut all their hair off, like the newest Katie Holmes Pixie cut , so I oblige and then when I am done they burst into tears and say "I didnt know it would be so short!"

sigh.

Of course I have scenarios that are my fault as well:

Ripping off eyebrows with wax that has overheated, leaving bleach on too long and causing their hair to burn and break, burning someone with a pressing comb, Nails that fall off after just one day... I just have these irrational thoughts that plague me and invade my sleep.  I know I am good at what I do. I am just worried that once I get to the floor my mind will go completely blank and I will forget all of my studying, training and hard work. That first person will sit in my chair and I will clam up tighter than a lid on a jar of pickles, too terrified to move.

It is so different when it is your family and friends you service. When it is a complete stranger, your career is on the line.

I havent always been like this. At first I couldnt WAIT to get to the floor. We flew through the first curriculum, then the second, third, fourth etc. Now we are starting our last curriculum and then we are off to the races. There is no going back. 

so I must prepare myself for the inevitable... Dealing with the public and creating good hair.

Oh well, I hear that night terrors are good for burning off calories.