An Iranian/Swedish Hair Stylist in California

Mike dropped me off at a hair stylist's place in a small mall in Capistrano, Southern California. Hair Design, the sign says. He thought the stylists were Asians, probably Vietnamese, but when I walked in, I saw only a "hispanic" woman. The price was right, so I sat down.

I observed my stylist in the mirror. She was a woman of late 40's or early 50's. Plump and sharp looking. I asked her about the Vietnamese. "They have been gone for 10 years! Now there are three of us here." She was surprised I was so out of date.

Where are you from?

"Oh, Sweden. Originally I'm from Iran, but that was many years ago when I was young. I left there when I was 19. I lived in Spain first for one year. Barcelona. Ah, beautiful city! I just loved it! Yes, I could speak Spainish like the locals back then. Now I can only speak some with the customers here, but nothing like before. So I lived in Sweden for 10 years. The business there is so good! Europeans like to keep themselves beautiful. They keep coming to my salon have their hair done. People here in the States don't care much. Business is slow. Then those Asian shops set the price so low. $5, $6, $7. So we have to keep our price low too. But America is the best place for children. I've been to many places in the world. America is the best. Here you can do whatever you want to do."

But that comes with a responsibility for one's own choice. I added.

"I lived in Texas for a while, then New Mexico, then we moved back to Europe, then California. I love California. People here are from all over the world. How do you want your hair done?"

Not too short. My boyfriend likes my hair to be long. Men always like women to have long hair. Tell me, why do older women usually have shorter hair? I asked her.

"Older women's hair is not healthy. Very thin, not thick. When you are over 30, you can't have nice hair anymore. Young girls can have beautiful hair, long and healthy. So beautiful. You have such beautiful hair. Normally your style is to perm it."

I know, but it destroys my hair, I tell her.

"That's true. I used to have long hair. Beautiful hair. All black. My husband likes me to keep my hair long, but it's no longer pretty."

I looked at her. Her hair was colored in a combination of gold, brown, red and blonde, over shoulder length, and tied in the back. I tried to see the Iranian in her. She looked genuinely friendly now. She put gel on my hair, blew it dry, and put on more moose. Indeed my hair was beautiful. I decided not to tell her that I was over 30.

Her phone rang and she picked it up. She was talking in a foreign language with someone. Afterward she told me it was Iranian. "No," she corrected herself right away, "Swedish. I was talking to my children. We all speak Swedish."

The haircut was $15. I gave her $18 and she was happy. Time for her to close down the salon for the day.