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AIBU?

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Original poster

To wish for a silent hairdressers?

120 replies

IndianaMoleWoman · 31/08/2019 22:53

Hair cut today, the hairdresser was lovely but asked 10,000+ questions and didn’t seem to get the hint with my short but polite answers, even when I mentioned that my small children are driving me mad with questions!

Does anyone else wish that there was a chain of specialist silent hairdressers where you could go for a bit of peace and not an interrogation?

OP posts:
user764329056 · 31/08/2019 22:56

Just bury your nose in a book or magazine

Dragongirl10 · 31/08/2019 22:58

Its fine to politely say, you would love a bit of quiet time and are sure she will understand.

thecatneuterer · 31/08/2019 23:02

Round my way there are almost no English speaking hairdressers (Lithuanian, Romanian and Chinese). My local hairdresser barely understands the basic words relating to hairdressing :) Consequently there's no chat at all. It's blissful ...

Ikeameatballs · 31/08/2019 23:04

I wish for this as well! I want peace and quiet not interrogation and forced small talk!!

escapade1234 · 31/08/2019 23:05

I would go to it if there was one!! I find the younger ones are the worst for the inane chit chat. And I always feel I’m patronising them. We lead such wildly different lives and have nothing in common bar maybe the weather. I’m good at making small talk so I go along with it but it’s exhausting.

OldGranvilleHouse · 31/08/2019 23:07

I’ve been going to the same place for 20+ years and they’re great - they seem to be able to work out quite quickly whether customers want to talk....... I like just to relax and not have to discuss what I’m “doing at the weekend” (probably because the answer’s usually “nothing”). YANBU.

busybarbara · 31/08/2019 23:10

This is a very privileged point of view. Those sorts of people don't earn a huge amount of money and basically have repetitive manual jobs with one of the highlights (pun not intended) being the social side and chatting to people to break up the monotony.

If you want a robot to do your hair then be prepared to pay extra for it.

Bouffalant · 31/08/2019 23:10

I'd pay extra for a silent hairdresser.

clucky3 · 31/08/2019 23:11

I want this too

DamnDinosaur · 31/08/2019 23:14

Me too

MoBro · 31/08/2019 23:15

I’d definitely work there! I’m due back in work tomorrow, so will be repeating the same answers to the same regular guests about my time away and trying to make it sound a lot less rubbish than it was to maintain the positive atmosphere! :-)
Agree about the issues with having little common ground being an issue, I could never imagine spending the money they do on my own hair and a lot of them have high flying jobs with children at private school. I feel completely embarrassed to say where I live, that it’s council, where I went on holiday, why I don’t just go privately to get a psychologist to find out why my son doesn’t cope at school... yada yada

NoHummus · 31/08/2019 23:15

Me too! I'd be quite happy sitting in silence without having to chat awkwardly. I'm not good at chatting!

minipie · 31/08/2019 23:15

busybarbara are you joking? I imagine a lot of hairdressers regard their job as a skilled career not repetitive manual labour and certainly don’t find chatting to customers the highlight of the job!

OP I just say sorry I’m not going to be very chatty today as have a lot of emails to send or have been looking forward to all the magazines or something like that.

ItIsWhatItIsInnit · 31/08/2019 23:17

OMG I'm the same!

They always ask so many fucking questions, especially about my job - which I hate and don't want to talk about at the weekend! Because it's a non-standard officey I have to explain it and then they're like "oh that's nice hun", like what is the point of the conversation. I go to a salon for some time-out and to relax in peace, not discuss the ins and outs of my life with a stranger!

Hardrainsgonnafall · 31/08/2019 23:17

busybarbara do you realise how patronising your comment is?!

ItIsWhatItIsInnit · 31/08/2019 23:17

*office job

ItIsWhatItIsInnit · 31/08/2019 23:20

How is hairdressing repetitive manual labour? It's a job that requires constant training to keep up with the latest techniques, not factory assembly...

Jenzenn · 31/08/2019 23:20

My sister is a hairdresser. She likes silent customers. She says it’s exhausting making chit chat all day and loves it when you get quiet ones Grin

BrittleJoys · 31/08/2019 23:20

That’s incredibly condescending, @busybarbara.

OP, just be polite and say you need some quiet time. I usually have work reading with me, or, failing that, a hefty novel (though I very much like my hairdresser, and we’ve had some very interesting talks, but not all the time, every time).

PersonaNonGarter · 31/08/2019 23:20

No, I had my hair cut today - and my hairdresser was lovely!

Elaine, if you are reading this, I hope the Christening goes well and I agree with you about the difficulties of not being able to guarantee the weather.

Cruddles · 31/08/2019 23:21

I'm a man and I go to barbers. £13 including beard trim and ear hair burnt off, no chit chat

Sparklesocks · 31/08/2019 23:22

Could you say something ‘sorry I’m not feeling very chatty today as I’m quite tired, so I probably won’t very talkative today’

Skittlesandbeer · 31/08/2019 23:23

Yep, count me in for the silent hairdressing salon.

5 min consultation, then blissful silence, marvellous.

And the policy needs to extend to every client (no, I don’t want to ‘overhear’ chapter and verse on your medical complaints from 2 feet away) and their little darlings on iPads with no headphones.

Last time I went, desperate for some ‘me’ time, the lady next to me had brought in 2 young kids, their scooters, and the family dog! I nearly cried.

LolaSmiles · 31/08/2019 23:28

I don't mind chatting to my current hairdresser as I've known them a while and we've got to a point of actual chats not 'how is the weather? What do you do for work? Did you see love island/any other popular TV show?'
Either you click with someone and the chat is natural or don't talk at all in my opinion.

I'm also with others who don't want to overhear someone else talking about their aunty rose's bunions and their own ongoing health or marital issues. It's the hairdresser's, not therepy. Hairdressers have a special skill in dealing with oversharers.

noeyedeer · 31/08/2019 23:30

My sister is a hairdresser. She can talk the hind legs off a donkey, but she loves it when someone comes in and just wants quiet. She's emotionally drained at the end of a long day, some clients do seem to think that she's a therapist.

As for repetitive manual labour, yes she's on her feet all day and using her hands, but she puts her heart and soul into what she does and the mental juggling of what she gets through is phenomenal.