I used to work in a hair salon back in 1997. This was before social media or even the internet. How’s that for aging yourself immediately?
I was sixteen and knew nothing about hair or running a salon. I knew that I could answer a phone and create appointments and so that’s what I did. And while the owner and his husband had wishes that I would turn the front desk into a retail selling machine, alas, I was a mediocre receptionist at best. Set to work two days a week at three hours a day because that’s simply all the time I had.
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The Bloody Ear And How It Relates To Life
I had two other jobs that I pieced together hours from in between school and friends. Nowhere would let me work full time because I was a minor so I managed to get three jobs in order to make as much money as I physically could. More on that another time.
Since I worked there, I received discounts on hair and body services. While I loved the girl who waxed my eyebrows every three weeks, I had yet to find a hair stylist I really loved there. So, I thought I would take turns every other month or so, to get a hair cut and see what each stylist had to offer.
Big mistake.
Now, I was an angsty teen in my own way. You know, the kind of way that most mother’s don’t mind. My largest way of rebelling was hanging out at the mall with semi-questionable people and getting my ears pierced so many times, I wondered if I’d ever stop. By the time I was sixteen, I had earrings cascading all the way from the lobes of my ear all the way to the top. I loved it. I felt rebellious, pretty, and very edgy. Even though, I wasn’t. It gave me a sense of freedom every time I went in to get one more.
Taking care of them had proved to be a part time job. Getting your ears pierced in the 90’s at the local mall is questionable at best. My ears were sensitive and I couldn’t afford the expensive earrings to help with sensitivity. Needless to say, I kept getting my ears pierced and I kept having to manage the soreness and the sensitivity while each one healed.
Back to the salon.
I sat down in one of the hair dressers chairs. I promptly told her what hair style I wanted and to PLEASE be careful of my ears. My latest piercing was high up on my ear and pretty sensitive. She said ok and moved right ahead with prepping my hair to be cut. She washed my hair and as soon as we were back from the shampoo bowl, she proceeded to brush my hair.
Normal, right?
Yes. Up until she immediately snagged my ear on her brush. Holy moly, it hurt so bad. I winced with pain and she apologized profusely. I asked her if it was bleeding to which she said, “No, not really.” I didn’t take a look at it and trusted her. She asked me again if I was ok and as the pain died down I said I was.
For the remainder of the dimly lit hair stylist session, I watched her tip toe around my ear, carefully cutting, carefully brushing, making faces and assuring me everything was fine.
Narrator: Everything was not fine.
At the end of the styling, my hair was dried and my ears were covered. I told her I liked it, thanked her, and headed to the front to pay my discounted price. This is the only way I could have afforded a hair cut in Scottsdale, so I was thrilled. I paid with the other receptionist who worked there on my off hours, tipped the hair stylist and left. Bouncy, happy, looking so fresh me.
I got out to the car and decided I should survey the damage of my ear. She had said it was fine and never so much as passed me a tissue. So I expected to see redness or maybe a small trail of crusted dry blood from the initial snag.
Nope.
To my horror, what I found is that the ENTIRE INSIDE OF MY EAR was full of dry, crusted blood. That woman let a sixteen year old me, sit there with my ear dripping blood the entire time until it had filled my ear and crusted over. I knew nothing and I felt nothing. Is that weird? I honestly had no idea that my ear way bleeding and she never mentioned one thing past the initial snag.
I felt embarrassed, gross, and stupid.
It’s a hilarious memory now and equally one that still horrifies me. But how often do we do this in our day to day lives? There is a small problem, a sensitive area if you will. And without the proper attention and care, it might be bleeding and bleeding and bleeding without you really recognizing it. Can others see it? Are they a part of the problem?
Ignoring it will only make it worse.
Had I asked to see a mirror so I could take a look at my poor wounded ear, I might have avoided the embarrassment. Had my hair stylist just stopped to tell me it was bleeding so I could clean it up, I wouldn’t have been so ignorant to how bad the problem really was.
Do you have areas like this in your life? Small little sensitive areas that might be “bleeding” without you recognizing it. It’s so important to that inventory of the problems we face every day. Don’t ignore them. Little issues can quickly turn into big problems. And big problems often create a larger mess than necessary. I drove home that day, went straight to the bathroom and had to clean my ear out and remove my earring. I can’t be sure, but that might have been the end of getting new piercings for me.
Now, I am all grown up and hardly wear earrings. Most of those holes have closed up completely. But I can tell you, that I never sit in a hair stylist chair without thinking about that bloody ear.
Take a quick inventory. What areas of your life can you relate my bloody ear to? What’s something you can do today to help tend to it or mend it completely? This is your chance to pay attention and notice the “bloody ears” in your life. While they aren’t always easy to see, it is important to notice and catch them early. No one as busy as you has time for ear aches. Take a look and move to fix them as quickly as you can. Do the work so you can be the best version you can be.
Have A Stellar Day,
Jess xo