I see a woman in the night with scissors in her hand

I’m not one to go in for aesthetic as a driving principle. The concepts employee a lot of people, and it is obviously effective. Sometimes in obvious, sometimes in ever-more subtle ways. It’s just not something I think about a lot, or give a lot of credence to its effect — which is the huge and obvious error, of course.

Use this shade of paint or that one. Put the product on the aisle, at eye level or on the end cap, I don’t care that much. Place your advertisement in this commercial break or in that magazine. Good for you. Burn incense in your shop, or just go crazy with the oils and potpourri. I’ll say “Whatever.”

I notice those things, for the most part, but it doesn’t obviously sway me one way or another when I do. I’m not immune. I wouldn’t suggest it. We’re all susceptible. But I think that the subtle has more impact on my decision making process than the obvious. I think this is because most of my shopping and errands and such are very task-oriented. And the task is usually “Find the least expensive thing possible.”

So a coupon is a good thing. And today I had a coupon. For a haircut! At the place I normal endure! This was a half-off coupon, and it expires tomorrow. So, tonight, I made a stop and had them take about half my hair off.

But while I’m sitting there waiting for my turn, I made a decision about hair aesthetics:

Just do an image search, and you’ll get the bigger point, of course. But also, I’m not the world’s biggest Neil Young fan.

The lady that cut my hair this evening was nice. We chatted, which I rarely do a lot of sitting in that chair. I think they probably appreciate the break, usually. But, tonight, we found ourselves talking about the weather and the upcoming snows — which aren’t forecast to be nearly as frightful as she seems to think.

She lives up on a hill and when it snows her car can slide down the driveway, even with the emergency brake engaged.

What happens if you park sideways, I asked.

She lives in a duplex. Parking sideways would block in her neighbors.

So they could park sideways, then, and you could call the boss tomorrow and say you’re blocked in?

This thought had never occurred to her. I could tell because I saw a glance in the mirror, where she was looking for the boss.

And my hair got cut, which was, perhaps, the productive highlight of the day.

Comments are closed.