(I am a hairdresser. While I am fairly new to the industry, I am usually booked a week in advance as I specialize in fashion colour and blondes.)

Client: “Hi. Do you have any appointments available today?”

Me: “Unfortunately, I am fully booked until [late next week].”

Client: “What about tomorrow? At noon?”

Me: “My next availability is [late next week] at 9:00 am.”

Client: “That doesn’t work for me. Can I come after hours tonight?”

Me: “If you’d like an afternoon or after-hours appointment, my next one is [date two weeks from now].”

Client: “No, I’ll come tonight, thanks.”

Me: “Okay, I can squeeze you in at 2:00 am. Since it is so late, I will be charging 200% my usual rates.”

Client: “You are so rude!” *hangs up*

(My friend and I are at a nail salon where I am a regular, getting our nails done. We are chatting with the nail technicians when a young girl about four or so comes in with her high school-age sister. They are greeted and go to pick their nail colors. The four-year-old breaks several bottles of nail polish and starts yelling at us to clean it up.)

Four-Year-Old: “Clean it up! Clean it UP!”

(The staff do so, with the four-year-old and her sister glowering. Neither of them says sorry or apologizes. The sister starts getting her tips done, and the four-year-old waits for her. After about ten minutes, their mom shows up. She blazes into the store with her son in a shopping cart, crashing hard into the glass door and nearly breaking it, too.)

Mom: “I understand I owe you for some nail polish that got broken?!”

Staff Member: “Oh, no, it’s fine. It’s okay. No charge.”

Mom: “No, I would like to pay.”

(She goes over to examine her little girl and notices the several colors of nail polish streaked down her leg. One is glitter pink and one is a deep blood red.)

Mom: “Oh, MY GOD! She CUT HERSELF and you didn’t even do anything?”

Sister: “Yeah, Mom, she asked for a bandage and they said NO!”

Four-Year-Old: “Yeah, Mom!” *starts to cry*

Mom: “I’m so sorry that she broke your PRECIOUS NAIL POLISH. How could you deny her a bandage, though? You’re more worried about the nail polish than my little girl?!”

(The staff attempt to explain but she does not let anyone finish a sentence.)

Mom: “You bunch of stupid immigrants don’t even speak enough English to know what I’m saying anyway!”

(She wheels out of there and the staff begin speaking quietly to each other in Vietnamese. Mom comes blazing back in.)

Mom: “You have something to say to me? Huh? You can say it to my face; we’re all adults here. Huh?! HUH?!”

(She is screaming and red in the face. Her kids are bawling. Finally, I have had enough.)

Me: “Ma’am—”

Mom: “I cannot BELIEVE—”

Me: “MA’AM! Your child did not ask for a bandage. They already said they won’t charge you for the polish she broke.”

Mom: “Of all the nerve! You’re telling me all my kids are lying?”

Me: “Ma’am, no one asked for a bandage. Even if she did, this is not a pharmacy. They’re not obligated to have one. IF she had, I have several and would have given her one. Besides, this is not a daycare. We’re not obligated to watch your child.”

Mom: “Rude. All of you are rude and selfish, and I’m going to sue all of you.”

Me: “Ma’am, this corner of the mall is covered by several security cameras, including one right behind your head. We can certainly review the footage.”

(Mom realized she was beaten and wheeled out of there, but not before giving us the finger. The employees were very nice and gave me and my friend a 10% discount! Stupid indeed?)

This story is part of our Nail Salon roundup!

Read the next Nail Salon roundup story!

Read the Nail Salon roundup!

(My mother and I are getting pedicures together at one of our favorite nail salons after not having them done for a while. My mom has struggled with her weight for years and is understandably sensitive about it. We’ve just sat down and the technicians have come over to start our pedicures when this occurs.)

Technician: “Do you have any medical conditions?”

Mom: “None that are relevant to this, no. Thanks for asking.”

Technician: “Really? Not diabetic?”

(I look over, shocked a bit at the gall of this woman, and waiting to see if my mother wants to just leave the shop.)

Mom: *amazingly keeping her cool* “Nope. Just fat. Thanks.”

(If someone says that they don’t have a relevant medical condition — the first time we’d ever been asked something like that anywhere, ever — don’t push them! No one is going to forget they have diabetes and then remember when you suggest that they might.)

This story is part of our Nail Salon roundup!

Read the next Nail Salon roundup story!

Read the Nail Salon roundup!

(I am a customer in a nail salon in Singapore, along with another lady who’s Asian but not local.)

Lady: “I would like to remove the gel manicure and get a new one done.”

Manicurist: *in simple English because she’s from Vietnam* “To remove gel, $30. Classic mani at $26 and classic pedi at $36.”

Lady: “I’m sorry; I don’t understand you.”

Manicurist: “To remove gel is $30.”

Lady: “Why are you charging me so much? In Sydney, they don’t charge me to remove the gel, and for mani and pedi it’s only $65. I don’t understand; it’s dollar to dollar now. How come you need to charge me to remove the gel?”

Me: “This is how the service is here.”

Lady: “This is ridiculously expensive. I don’t understand. It’s dollar to dollar now. How come they are charging me so much compared to Sydney?”

Me: “Well, you’re not in Thailand or Indonesia, where their services are really cheap. At the same time, you’ll never know the quality rendered to you with that kind of price. Whereas here, their services are excellent and their products are good. I’m really happy with my service and I’ve been with them for many years now.”

Lady: “If I knew it was going to be this expensive, I would have done it in Sydney!”

(I live in Sweden and when going home to Portugal, I decide to go to a beauty salon to get my fingernails done. Note that I have a good job in Sweden, and it is apparent that I am a person that enjoys metal and more alternative things, as I have some piercings, dress in black, and wear metal band t-shirts.)

Nail Technician: “What color do you want to paint your nails?”

Me: “Black.”

Nail Technician: “Oh, my black nail polish is a bit ruined. Don’t you want some red or blue instead?”

Me: “Not really. I am not so fond of those colors and the black nail polish is the only thing that works to make me not bite my fingernails.”

Nail Technician: “Okay, then. We can try using it. Why do you have those piercings? They look ridiculous! Don’t your parents complain? You will never get a job like that.”

Me: “I am 30 years old; my parents have nothing to do with it. Besides, I am living 4000 km away from them; they just come visit once in a while. And I have a very good job in Sweden.”

Nail Technician: *interrupting me* “[Coworker], do you want to get lunch after?” *back at me* “You know, my niece has a boyfriend that is manipulating her into those metallic things. Pfft. She’s studying to become a doctor; she needs to have more dignity than that. She wanted to paint her nails black. I didn’t allow her. No one dressed like that and with black fingernails is allowed in my house.”

Me: “It’s not the way a person dresses that makes her a better or worse professional.”

Nail Technician: *very quickly* “Okay, you’re done. Good bye.” *gets up and goes out of the salon*

(In the end, the black nail polish worked flawlessly, surprise! And the job was so quick that I didn’t even have time to get up and leave, even though my blood started to boil.)