Harrassment from hair stands in the mall - Page 2

celticgoddess · 08-15-2008, 01:58 PM

i just ignore anyone at a cart

hard for them to pester me if i'm looking in the opposite direction. think of it as approaching a wild animal's territory... don't look it in the eyes, and it's less likely to attack you

BotticelliBabe · 08-15-2008, 07:28 PM

I don't often go to malls anymore (not many near me, and DH hates them anyway), but I already have my counter to their attack.

It seems like they all say the same thing from what I've read, so when they say "Let me show you what I can do to your hair!" I'll just look them dead in the eye, poker-faced, and say "Let me show you what I can do to your face."

I seriously doubt that their worker's comp can cover the damage stupidity (and my kickboxing training, if they actually come near my hair with that contraption) can do to them.

figiwater9 · 08-16-2008, 06:19 PM

I HATE GOING TO THE MALL! I have 2 malls that I go to, one is one of those super huge malls and the other is a mall with a few stores and a movie theather. The big mall has all of those carts, and I'm always heckled by those people!

I suppose my anger depends on what they're selling. Sometimes I feel bad. Just the other day I was walking through the mall with my father and some girl asked me if she could see my hands because she wanted to show me some hand lotion. My father said NO. and kept walking.

I didn't want to just walk away because the lady was being nice so I politley said:

"Is the lotion scented?"
"Yes, it has a light lavender scent."
"Well, I'm sorry, I'm allergic to scented lotions." (Which is the truth, btw. But at least I wasn't mean about it.)

Some of those people sometimes make me angry depending on what they say. The fake ponytails girls? Sometimes they say:

"YOUR CURLS ARE TOO TIGHT!! WHY DON'T YOU IMPRESS YOUR FRIENDS AND THE MEN AND WEAR THIS LOOSER CURLED PONY TAIL?"

You know what I say?

"Sorry lady but I'm not like some girls I love my curly hair and am not self-concious about it please leave me alone I like the way I look."

THE STRAIGHTENER PEOPLE?!!?!?!?!? ARRRGGG!!! They make me so mad!

"You know, if you give me 5 minutes I can make your ugly curly hair into beautiful straight hair! You will be so confident with your beautiful straight hair, and you will attract a lot of guys because they'll love your new look! With the way you look now the men think to themselves 'That girl doesn't take care of herself!' I'm sure that you are made fun of, called brillowhead, sheep girl, all of those kinds of things, yes??? Let me make your hair more beautiful!!!!!!!!"

I say...

"YOU KNOW WHAT, MAM??? MY HAIR IS NOT UGLY! YOUR HAIR IS UGLY! IT'S DRY AND BRITTLE AND STRINGY! I AM CONFIDENT WITH MY BEAUTIFUL SOFT, HYDRATED, STRONG CURLS, AND ALTHOUGH THE GUYS DON'T LIKE MY CURLS, I DON'T CARE! I LOVE MY HAIR, AND THAT'S THE ONLY OPINION THAT MATTERS! I DO TAKE CARE OF MYSELF, A LOT BETTER THAN YOU DO! I DON'T USE HAIR PRODUCTS THAT HURT MY HAIR AND I DON'T BURN IT WITH A STRAIGHTENER! YOU HAVE CRISPY HAIR! CRISPY HAIR, CRISPY HAIR!! THATS WHAT YOU ARE, AND THATS YOUR NEW NICKNAME. CRISPY HAIR!! *catches breath* So no thank you, mam. My hair is beautiful the way it is, and if I change it, it will be on MY terms. Not yours, not society's."

Then I walk away.

At the small mall, luckily all they have for booths are the phone booths. When they try to rope me in I say "Hey, I know this is your job and you're being polite about it, but I'm really not interested." And they leave me alone.

lebanesecurly · 08-18-2008, 03:34 PM

Just the other day I was at the mall with my friend, who has gorgeous full crazy 3b/c hair. I also was wearing my 2c/3a hair natural. When we passed this guy at one of those booths his whole face lit up and he rushed over to us. We had to run away with him calling after us

susancnw · 08-18-2008, 03:57 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by shel312

My neighbors just had an experience with these hair booths. The girl is 15 and was shopping with her mom when stopped. The sakes girl went through her whole script and the mom told her that she was not going to pay $129.00 for a hair straightener. The sales woman took the 15 yr old to the side and asked her if she had her own money. When the girl said yes, the sales girl told her, "well then, you don't need your mom's approval". Mom then started walking away, the 15 yr old said she had to go and the sales woman said, "don't worry about her". Unbelievable what people will do to make a dollar!!

Good thing my daughter has straight hair...the instant someone tried to ursurp my authority like that she would be face down on the ground.

smo6767 · 08-18-2008, 05:08 PM

It's unbelieveable how many people think that all girls with curls hate their hair and wish it was straight. Ugh, it's also so annoying how many people ask about my hair. "Do you have a perm?" No. "Oh, is it natural?" Yes. "Do you know how much people would pay to have hair like your's?" Yes. "I bet you want it straight." No. I like it the way it is. "Oh. That's nice." AHHHHHHHHH!!!

celticgoddess · 08-18-2008, 10:21 PM

truthfully, though, the hair-straightener people are AGES better than the miracle girdle people >_<

Antipathy · 08-21-2008, 12:14 PM

I know exactly how you feel! My hair is in rehab right now and I'm starting the CG method soon, but almost every time I would pass by one of those stands I'd have to all but shout "I'm obviously not interested!"

Mass1gBewegt · 08-22-2008, 04:02 PM

Ah. Them. Its lovely to be walking along with fantastic bushy hair and have the (curly haired) Curly Or Not guy accost you with a flat iron. He doesn't give anyone with me a second thought, whether theyre curly or wavy or straight.... NO. The girl with the cotton ball on her head. =]

I like my cotton ball.

08-23-2008, 10:53 AM

I've never been to a mall that had a hair kiosk. *sigh* I'd just stick my tongue out and keep walking.

vegas_curls · 08-23-2008, 02:37 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by celticgoddess

i just ignore anyone at a cart

hard for them to pester me if i'm looking in the opposite direction. think of it as approaching a wild animal's territory... don't look it in the eyes, and it's less likely to attack you

ITA - and thankfully I've never been approached by anyone. In my mind's eye I like to think it's b/c I'm rockin' a gorgeous head of curls - surely no one would want to mess w/ 'em... but in reality I just set my face to a "don't-bother-me" look when I walk by and I think that's what really keeps people at bay.

CalamityM · 08-23-2008, 04:23 PM

I got approached at the mall today by someone holding a straightening iron!! <laugh> I had no product in my hair, and it was just tied back into a ponytail. It WAS a bit frizzy and poofy looking, and this seems to attract them like magnets. The guys asked if he could show me how to straighten my hair, and I said "absolutly not!" I wish I had said something more whitty, but he caught me off guard!

echokitten · 08-24-2008, 04:32 PM

Well, I don't do this when DH is with me as he gets embarrassed easily...but the last time I was at the mall-like 5-6 months ago-one of those girls actually came into one of the stores to try to straighten the AEagle shop-girls hair. I was standing right next to her when it happened. I could only listen to the flat iron girls speil for about a minute...the poor AEagle girl looked like a deer in a headlight (with georgeous 3b loooong strawberry blonde locks I might add). After repeated "no thank yous" the flat iron girl finally left and I turned to the AE girl and said that I loved her hair and that she should never straighten it. She thanked me and said that her aunt was a hairdresser and helped he learn to style it properly and since she had so much and such long hair she rarely straightened...
Anyhoo- just as I was leaving that shop, that same flat iron girl started in on me. She got about 6 words out before I said this:
I am, in point of fact, having a F****ing Awesome Hair day, and I would not want to ruin it by letting some stranger whose hair looks like porn star hair I might add, a) insult my beautiful curls that took me 4 years to grow and b) straighten or otherwise man handle it.
Sorry...and Good Day.

Co1029 · 08-24-2008, 05:10 PM

Those are all really good ideas. Might have to use them next time I get accosted.

Usually I just say in a very loud stage voice (so the whole area can hear) "NOT INTERESTED" and if they continue to harass me, I stop, look them dead in the eye and say "I said I'm not interested. This is no way to get customers." Usually they are just so blown away that someone would basically yell at them in the middle of the mall, they kind of get lost in what they were going to say.

It's quite amusing.

CurlyKatie · 08-29-2008, 03:54 PM

I always have the opposite thing happen. Whenever I go to the mall and see these carts with people (usually men for some reason) brandishing the straightening irons, they take one look at me, and quickly turn away pretending that they didn't see my curls.

I was always really offended because I felt like they saw my hair as some sort of disease, that they didn't even want to take on. Now I don't care so much... I wouldn't let them straighten out my curls even if they payed me.

Trance_Curl · 08-29-2008, 05:33 PM

I hate those stands. And on the one day when I'm feeling flyest - rocking my fro, etc, they like to zero in on me when I'm with my friends, brandishing flat irons. You can just see the wheels turning in their heads, like "Must...Straighten....Too...Many...Curls! Agggh!"

It's so embarrassing. Especially when you say 'No' and they keep trying to touch your hair.

QuirkyYogini · 08-30-2008, 02:07 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by celticgoddess

i just ignore anyone at a cart

hard for them to pester me if i'm looking in the opposite direction. think of it as approaching a wild animal's territory... don't look it in the eyes, and it's less likely to attack you

That's what I do! Once you make eye contact, you're a goner. Some don't get the hint though, so then you've gotta be assertive.

I wish I could think quickly on my feet. Some of you guys have some awesome comebacks. I'm going to have to memorize those!

Alliy · 09-01-2008, 07:53 PM

Believe it or not, I had this exact same thing happen to me. But the person with the iron also use me as an example of how to curl already straightened hair. Girls are using their irons to add curls all the time now, because straight hair is, welll...boring!

rnconniesf · 09-01-2008, 08:13 PM

Watch out for the pretend you don't see them tactic. I nearly got my arm ripped of yesterday in the mall by some nut trying to get me to buy a "natural" manicure buffer. She grabbed my wrist and had the polish off one nail before I figured out wth was going on. Then she buffs the nail 4 times with different sides of this buffing block. To top it off she asks me if I smoke ( I don't, my clear polish was yellowed from being outside all week) and tells me "We don't like smokers". After all this she tells me if I buy her miracle buffer I can grow my nails and "Look more professional". I told her "I'm a nurse and this IS a professional look". Best part she had nail extensions on!! Nice way to sell a product lady; be condescending, insult me, and not even use the product you are trying to sell. As an aside, if you are trying to sell a product by fast talking in the mall it would really help if your English was understandable (this is not meant as a generalization, this woman REALLY pissed me off).

cympreni · 09-02-2008, 07:23 AM

I've only been bothered by them once, and I guess I taught them a lesson because they haven't done so since.

I live about 30 miles from the nearest mall, and no ac in the car, so my hair is not always at it's best when I get there. One particular day, we had been running around, and my hair had been subjected to 2 hours of 3 windows down in the car. I got stopped by the woman in the kiosk, and I politely told her no thanks because I know she's just trying to do her job. I was fine to leave it at that, until she had to start in on my "frizz problem."

I was tired and hadn't check the mirror before entering, so I borrowed theirs real quick. And what I saw made me steamed. My hair was not frizzy, it looked damn good considering. I just had a bit of surface frizz. So I took my spritz bottle out of my purse misted it, without being too careful where it was aimed, smoothed it down and asked what frizz problem? She had no comment. Then informed her as I left that insulting people was not a good way to sell stuff, and she might have better luck if she didn't waste her time on a person with an infant and toddler in tow.