Hair Raising Lesson
I’m going to try to catch up with my blog and recount some of the exciting things that happened during our first week of training…please stay glued to your screen….
The first day, which was 30 January, was interesting. We went over the policies for Himalayan Healers and for Tranquility School. Hem, the co-owner, or managing director explained to the class about personal grooming: short hair for men, above the ears, and no long bangs on the forehead. Daily showering, using deodorant, no spitting, congenial behavioral things.
This didn’t seem to be a problem but for one of our students, it became a slight issue. One of our students has an ear that is really small, he cannot hear out of out because it never formed. So he hides it by having his hair long enough to only see the earlobe.
A former co-worker of mine at the spa I used to work at in Ojai, had the same thing, a small, non-functional tissue that kind of resembles an ear. I never noticed because when her hair was pulled back, it covered her ears. And plus, she wasn’t insecure about it, so it wasn’t an issue for her.
He stayed after class, and asked me to tell them about his ear, and I said, please, you tell them. I thought he was going to tell them he can only hear out of one ear. But he had an issue with cutting his hair and revealing a very sensitive spot. At first Bhuwan and Hem, the owner’s of the school, were very rigid, saying that if he worked in a hotel spa or resort, he would have to cut it, that they wouldn’t make an exception. They tried to relay that he has to overcome his insecurity about his ear and gave an example of a former colleague whose face changed because of cancer. Her whole side of her face was disfigured, and her attitude was, I don’t have a problem with the way I look, if someone does, it’s their problem, not hers.
They told him he will become more confident and it won’t be an issue after he cuts his hair. I stepped in and asked Bhuwan, if he could trim his hair week by week so that he could adjust.
I explained to them about my pock mock that is right in between my eyes, and how I thought it made me look so ugly, until I was about 16. I thought it was so big, that everyone could see it, but it reality, no one notices it. I told them I overcame my big problem, and realized it was a beauty mark.
So, at the end, we realized that he wouldn’t be comfortable with cutting his hair that short, but over time he would.
The next day, he was a no show, because of his ear. Bhuwan, Hem and I were concerned, they told me they called him later that evening (Sunday), but the number they had was wrong. So they couldn’t get in touch with him. Apparently when he left yesterday, I thought we told him that he could trim it, week by week, until he was comfortable with his ear being revealed to the world. But apparently, that is why they tried to call him the day before, to tell him that he didn’t have to cut all of his hair off, and that it was okay to slowly trim it. So he left the school after our first class feeling like he had to cut his hair short, and so didn’t come to class the next day.
So, we finally got the right number and called his house and left a message with his brother. He came back on Tuesday, I don’t know if he trimmed his hair, but he was wearing a ski cap, it is so cold in there…so I didn’t know if he trimmed his hair and wore the cap as a security blanket thing or of he was just cold, maybe it satisfied both reasons.
We are happy to have him back and will help him overcome his self-image. That will be one of his challenges, his own self-acceptance.
Tags: grooming, Kathmandu Work
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