Bone of contention

I finished off the Blason de Bourgogne 2006 Chardonnay, which is a lovely dry white wine, tonight while watching the two remaining episodes of the first series I had to watch of the sitcom The IT Crowd. A series I've starting liking, the second series is on TV at the moment but I haven't managed to catch any of them - looks like another DVD catch-up job will be in order.

I also watched this show about two trainee hairdressers vying for a job with a top London hair salon. Reality TV strikes again, with a twist, the twist being that one candidate is 17 and the other is in their 60s. The younger having worked in a local salon for 3 years whilst the latter has been in the business over 40 years. The human side of story really focused on the man in his 60s, we learned he wanted to support his wife and that he had a good way with customers, that he enjoyed taking the reigns on a photo shoot, producing some stunning visuals interpreting the theme creatively but he was very set in his old, bad ways. The girl was sour faced, gave the impression of being stroppy and talked in a monotone voice constantly, showing no enthusiasm whatever. She bombed on the photo shoot assignment but did well in the final show as the finale of their 4 weeks in the salon. How humiliating for the guy to fail a hair washing test 5 times - not just any old hair washing because it had to be in the correct salon style. It was more a problem for him because he was tall and he had to bend to get the right angle for his hands. Whereas it was nothing for a nimble 17 year old.

Talk of washing hair reminds me that a few years ago I went into a small local barbershop I'd never been into before for a haircut. All seemed friendly enough but the shop felt a bit behind the times - a curtain across the shop window at shoulder height hid the clients from view. On the wall were lots of black and white soccer photographs. The radio was tuned to a sports talk station and it being a Saturday, there was a lot to talk about and the barbers (two of them, both male in their 40s/50s, passing comment occasionally). It was quite busy, I had to wait my turn on my foldable chair against the wall facing clients infront of the small mirrors. I had chosen to have a Wet Cut that meant having my hair washed beforehand, every time I'd had my hair washed in a salon before I was asked to lean back and the business was done with my face clear from water as my hair was washed behind. But in this barbershop, it was a different kettle of fish. I had to lean forward, water ran off my nose and I found it hard to get get my breath. I'm sure I must have struggled to get free but my head was held firmly in place - it was probably one of the most uncomfortable few minutes of my life (apart from a few times in the dentist office). Needless to say I never went back there, I didn't feel like I ever wanted to drown in a barbershop again.

Back to reality TV, no surprises that the girl beat the man to be offered the job. I think the reasoning was that the salon owners felt that they could bring out the personality in the girl and she was easier to mould into what they wanted. It must have been a terrible let down for the man though, the programme showed none of the aftermath of the judges decision which I felt was unusual - don't reality TV shows usually indulge in analysing every aspect of success and failure? It simply said in text in the end credits that the girl was still working at the salon and the man was still looking for a full time position. I felt he deserved something better out of the experience - I'm sure he learned a lot but if that doesn't translate into something material what's the point? Ah, reality TV doesn't have to have a point though, does it? I've answered my own question! Time for bed...