My hairdresser called me the other day to tell me she was moving to a different branch of her salon, a location on the other side of town. She was clearly nervous about telling me and had waited as long as she possibly could to make the call. Her fear was that she would lose me as a customer.
Lest you think this post is about my hair, let me assure you that it is not. It’s a little about service, but it’s mostly about space.
In my mind–though obviously not hers–there was no question that I would follow Laura to her new digs. I’ve followed her from salon to salon for years because of the way she treats me and the quality of her work. I don’t give up those things easily. I also don’t think I’m that much different from anyone else in this regard. Most of us will remain loyal to the people or the companies that treat us right. Pay attention, service providers; there’s a fundamental lesson there.
Space is the other issue, the one that threatens to tip the balance for some of Laura’s other clients. To me, the move isn’t a big deal. I have a car and I can make it haul me wherever I want. This city isn’t so big that I can’t get to the new salon in a reasonable amount of time. Sure, it’s a little less convenient in terms of hampering my ability to roll out of bed fifteen minutes before my slotted appointment and still make it on time, but I get something in return. Aside from the great job Laura does, I get a reason to explore an area of town that I might not frequent otherwise. How can more exposure to more things/people/places be bad?
Too often, many of us, whether through habit or preference, find our day-to-day existence limited to an x-square-mile patch of land–often a tiny corner of a single city. If we don’t look for chances to break out of The Zone, we run the risk of breeding monotony. Eventually, some of the color will start to fade from our lives.
Yeah, yeah, I’m making a mountain out of a molehill again. We’re just talking about my hairdresser’s move, right? Maybe so, but when she told me some of her customers had balked at the added minutes to their drives, my mind started churning. It’s not about the behavior; it’s about the attitude. I don’t want my life to be limited by my zip code. I hope you don’t either.
I’ll be there, Laura.