To expect children to mean both girls and boys

[Lepreporn]

I needed to get my four year old dd
hair trimmed. I passed by a barbers shop in a shopping centre this morning. I looked in and it was empty. 3 staff standing around.
I know it was a barbers but I thought they might do a quick trim. There was a big sign on the window saying men's cuts and children's cuts.
When I went in and asked the lady would they trim dds hair. She laughed at me and said no of course not only boys !
I pointed out the big sign on the window and said girls are children too. It should just say boys if that is the case. She said our price list says boys cuts. This was a tiny sign in the corner of the window.
I left at this stage muttering that girls are children too.
AIBU ?

[RedHelenB]

YABU if it says boys cuts elsewhere yes.

[noisytoys]

It's a barber. Of course YABU. Barbers are for men (and boys)

[BaresarkBunny]

In this situation I would have presumed the sign meant only boys.

[Jan49]

I think UABU because barbers are men's hairdressers so I'd assume they only do men's and boys' hair unless they said otherwise. So I'd assume "children" meant boys.

[Jan49]

Sorry, that's err Y not U.

[Crinkle77]

I would associate a barbers with being for men. It was worth asking if they could trim your dd hair but would not be surprised if they said no

[RiffyWammal]

There was no need for the woman to laugh at you, that's just rude.

I could understand this 'men only' approach in the days when men all had more or less the same haircut ie short back and sides. But nowadays men have all sorts of hairstyles which are just as complicated as women's; long hair is common as is layered bouffant do's like Harry Styles' so would take the same length of time and require the same training. But I suppose it's up to them if they want to limit their clientele by 50%!

[secretscwirrels]

Barbers cut hair very differently from hairdressers. I know this from experience of taking my two boys to both over the years.
You might as well cut her hair yourself as have a barber do it to be honest, and they all seem to be very, very slow.
Suffice to say DS1 (17) wouldn't go near a barber.
You had a lucky escape.

[Lepreporn]

Glad I've had a lucky escape. Thanks for the replies.
I guess I was unreasonable so. I will take it on the chin.

[Still18atheart]

Normally I'd agree with the op. But in this specific situation YABU sorry

[SelfRighteousPrissyPants]

I had a friend (female) with short hair who always had her hair cut at a barbers because it was cheaper. She looked great.

Surely a trim is a trim, I do my DS's medium length hair OK with no training whatsoever!

[mrsjay]

you would think a trim for a little child was just that a trim yes i know it was a barbers but really she could have given her a quick cut and she didnt need to laugh in your face , cheeky moo,

[Lepreporn]

My problem really was the sign said children. If you look up children in the dictionary it says boys and girls. I wouldn't have bothered going in if that sign wasn't there. The unfairness of boy versus girl pricing is a whole other thread.
I ended up taking her to my local hairdresser. Cost 15 euros for a trim. Boys cost 5 euros in the barber.

[SelfRighteousPrissyPants]

OMG 3 times as much!! I'd find a more friendly barber that know the meaning of the word 'children' if I was you.

[scarlettsmummy2]

I take my daughter to the barbers regularly, they have female staff who I presume have qualified as hair dressers!

[ilovepowerhoop]

our local barber shop cuts girls hair too - I get dd and ds a haircut for a total price of about £12.50. In fact I got my hair cut there too for half the price of what I pay in the hairdressers!!

[AlbertoFrog]

My friend worked in a barbers and I overheard her refuse to trim a wee girl's hair one day (she'd just trimmed the brother's hair). When I asked why she said their insurance only covered them for men and boys!

[Phineyj]

We had DD's fringe trimmed at a barber's. YANU to ask...

[ShadowStorm]

Is a hairdresser's insurance rate more for girls then?

Daft question - does hairdresser's insurance cover losses due to them really badly messing a customer's haircut up?

[Shelly32]

I went to a berbers once (when I was a student) becase they were offering a £5 cut. At the time I didn't realise a barber was for men only. I did after I looked around to see I was the only lady there. They took ten seconds to hold my hair in a chunk and cut it in about 5 snips...

[AlbertoFrog]

Must admit I find the insurance thing a tad bizarre. I appreciate salons usually do cuts and colours and perms etc and barbers just do cuts and trims but if you're a girl and just want a trim then what's the difference.

Wish now I'd got my friend to explain further.

[NeoMaxiZoomDweebie]

I know that Barbers don't need to have any training to offer cuts....but hairdressers probably do.

[BarbarianMum]

Oh God, you bring back awful memories.

My dad used to take me to the barbers for 'a bit of a trim' when I was little.

Don't do it, unless she or you get pleasure from her being mistaken for a boy.

[exoticfruits]

If you look it up in a dictionary it say men's hair- therefore children mean boys.

[Lilicat1013]

My hairdressers refused to cut my son's hair, apparently children on their sign only means girls, they don't do boys. So it seems to work both ways.

I thought it was silly, he was about a year old at the time and only needed a trim.