Salon Nights

Salon nights are the kind of nights spent at everybody's favorite all-night hair salon. You might not find SerenSnippety's unless you knew where to look. It occupies the ground floor of a house on a leafy residential street. By day, you might not realize there was any kind of business here. At night, it's a different story. As soon as it gets dark, the salon's sign, in neon pink cursive, comes on in the window, with an extra few words of encouragement beneath. Come on in. Before we begin, let's start off with a little wind down exercise. Tonight's exercise is a really simple breathing exercise. So when you're ready, let's begin. So first, get yourself comfortable. Now just bringing the attention to the breath, just noticing where you feel it, in the nose, the throat, the chest, the diaphragm. You're nice and relaxed. We're going to be taking a deep breath in for four, holding it for four, and then breathing out for six. So are you ready? Let's begin. In for four, two, three, four. Hold it for four, two, three, four. Breathing out for six, two, three, four, five, six. In for four, two, three, four. Holding for four, two, three, four. Out for six, two, three, four, five, six. In for four, two, three, four. Holding for four, two, three, four. Out for six, two, three, four, five, six. In for four, two, three, four. Holding for four, two, three, four. Out for six, two, three, four, five, six. Great, now returning the breath to normal. You're sitting on a wonderfully comfortable couch. It's firm, but with just the right amount of give. There's a stack of magazines on the glass coffee table in front of you and a folder containing pictures of every hairstyle imaginable. If there's anything you need, a hot or cold drink, an extra cushion for your back, you only need to say the word. You could kick off your shoes if you wanted to and put your feet up. This is the sort of place where they wouldn't mind that at all. In fact, they'd encourage it. Tucked in an alcove at the back of the room is a row of basins for washing the clients' hair. Two of the basins are out of sight around a corner, but you can see the one at the end. The hair washer, Janice, a high school student, who plans to train as a stylist when she graduates is standing behind the basin massaging shampoo into a client's hair. You can tell from the mixture of concentration and care with which she carries out her task that she takes great pride in her job. "How's that temperature for you, Mrs. Massarelli?" she inquires as she turns on the water to start rinsing. You can see the client's tipped up chin where her head is resting in the dip of the basin. Her feet are crossed at the ankles, and she's wearing a fabulous pair...