Uncomfortable

In a non-Oliphest event, Sagan and I went to a local beauty shop to purchase a wig for her costume. I really like adventuring with Sagan, and this was an opportunity to do just that, so I did.

The beauty shop we went to caters to predominantly black women. There was a moment of discomfort when I walked in, my not being the targeted audience, so I tried to relax into the experience. I had no expectations and was open to whatever this experience brought me.

When the woman behind the counter initially asked if we needed help, and ignored us for a bit as she finished the task she was doing after we said yes, I bristled, then shrugged. Maybe this is fine, not expected, but still fine. She helped us quickly enough.

Turns out, what we thought we were originally looking at was wig examples, we were actually looking at weave samples. Yeah, I had a lot to learn about this beauty thing.

The clerk led us to the wigs, and asked what we were looking for. Sagan asked for my phone, which I handed her, and she looked up River Tam, the character from Firefly that Sagan was dressing up as for a friend's birthday party. After the clerk looked at the picture, I set my phone down on the counter, screen side down as is my habit. The clerk found a wig that matched what Sagan was looking for, and handed it to Sagan to try on. As Sagan was adjusting the wig, the clerk gave off a huge sigh. We looked over.

"An iPhone 5SE."

Another big sigh.

"I would love to have one of those."

I stopped moving, suddenly unsure and more than a bit uncomfortable.

"I had a 5S," she continued. "But it broke. So, now I'm using the iPad."

"Does that work well?" I asked, keeping the conversation going, trying to hide my discomfort.

"No. My grandma stepped on it. It has a big crack across it." Another sigh.

Sagan finished adjusting the wig, and turned to me, asking for my phone to use as a mirror. "There's a mirror right there," the clerk prompted her, pointing to Sagan's right.

We loved the wig, so the clerk went to find one to sell us from the back stockroom.

After we paid for the wig (which was quite the adventure) and left the store, I turned to Sagan and said, "That whole thing with the clerk and my phone made me uncomfortable."

Rather than her expected reaction, "Oh, yeah, that was awkward," she asked, "What was uncomfortable?"

Which was the perfect response.

I love this picture of Sagan, and like the picture of me. In the next picture I took, I like the picture of me more, but like the picture of Sagan less. So, this one wins, making Sagan look good.