Overreacting and making a scene are two things that a person can just naturally do from time to time.
But that doesn’t make it any less funny to witness, grinned the “Am I the A**hole?” (AITA) subReddit.
Redditor Mergerop couldn’t help but laugh when they witnessed a woman getting her haircut, only to accuse her hairstylist of potentially causing blindness.
But when their wife accused them of reacting inappropriately, the Original Poster (OP) wondered if they should have tried harder to contain their laughter.
They asked the sub:
“AITA for laughing at a woman while she was getting her hair cut?”
The OP was in the middle of a haircut.
“I go to the same hair salon my wife does. Several hairdressers, good service.”
“I was getting a haircut when this woman came in, they sat her in the chair next to mine, and she asked for a pixie cut.”
“As the hairdresser worked, she pulled the hair over the woman’s face at an angle, and some hair fell onto the woman’s face as it was being cut.”
The woman had a surprising reaction.
“The woman yelled, ‘Stop right now!'”
“She then told the hairdresser that she was not paying for a service where they let the hair fall into her face, because what if it gets into her eyes and she goes blind!”
The OP reacted.
“I couldn’t help it, I just burst out laughing, ’cause man, just imagine you need protective goggles to a hair salon now.”
“Naturally, the woman called me an AH, but so did my wife when I told her that I laughed.”
“AITA?”
Fellow Redditors weighed in:
- NTA: Not the A**hole
- YTA: You’re the A**hole
- ESH: Everybody Sucks Here
- NAH: No A**holes Here
Some understood the woman’s concern but not her reaction.
“I would have laughed also because you just don’t get to speak to someone that way. Definitely not TA and the client definitely was.”
“BUT HEAR ME OUT:”
“There are hairdressers out there who let the hair flop around on your face willy nilly. I went to one place where I actually paid way extra to have the top stylist/namesake of the place do my hair – they encouraged me to do so because he had been taking training in ‘all the top color techniques’ in the field and was in for the day so he wanted to take on some clients.”
“Turns out he thought we were in a cartoon or something because the way he was whipping my hair back and forth was insane. He was either in a huge hurry, didn’t care, thought I was a mannequin, or was trying to exaggerate his movements to look impressive and justify the price tag. I was constantly sputtering and blowing hair out of my mouth and eyes.”
“Well for hours after that, I had a ridiculously irritated eye. It got to the point where I could barely stand it. I was in a change room with a mirror and I wear contacts so I’m very used to digging around my eyeball area.”
“I went to work, and d**n if I didn’t PULL A 4-INCH HAIR OUT OF MY EYE. Like… it was fully wrapped twice around the circumference of my eyeball, underneath my eyelids and it was all gooey from eye gunk and the whole 9 yards.”
“But the point of the story is…”
“I have some residual trauma about hair on my face, and even I wouldn’t have snapped at a stylist that way.”
“NTA.” – hbtfdrckbck
“Hair is strong stuff. My cat once accidentally ate one of my log hairs when I still had it that way and when I was scooping the box it was just this … well the hair survived, let’s leave it at that.”
“Imagine a hair that long in one’s eye could actually do serious damage if it managed to get taught and stuff. This lady was out of line though and I too would have laughed and maybe with the right person made a joke about it causing my blindness… but now I do wonder if it is possible…” – blindbat84
“I’m a hairstylist; 7 years ago I had some serious eye irritation that I could not get rid of, it was awful. When I finally went to get it looked at, they had to use fluorescent dye to discover I had a hair splinter that would need to be surgically removed.” – tigm2161130
“NTA because what!? ‘She’s not paying for a service where they let the hair fall into her face’?”
“Sounds to me like the lady was trying to pull a con for a free haircut. Every haircut I’ve ever had had had the hair falling over my face at some point just so the hairdresser can actually access where she needs to.” – Aenthralled
“NTA.”
“How else did she expect to get a pixie cut? An actual magical pixie that kept the cut hair from falling on her?” – lingualiblola
“NTA. And this is where pushback on s**tty customers should be. She should have been asked to leave if she cannot handle her own hair falling on her. Sorry, ma’am, I cannot guarantee that further hair-on-face contact can be avoided.”
“As such, I do not feel comfortable continuing. I think it best we terminate this appointment. You will not be charged for today at all. Have a lovely rest of your day”.” – Sharri70
“As a hairdresser, I support your laughter. It was a ridiculous statement and worthy of laughter. NTA. If she had a serious issue with hair getting in her eyes, she should have something at the beginning of the cut.”
“The stylist could have used a stick-on forehead shield to keep the hair out of the eyes.”
“This woman was aggressive, rude, and threatening to the stylist. Laughter was definitely needed. I would have appreciated that if I was in that awful situation.” – pink4pink
Others didn’t think the OP did anything wrong.
“NTA. I bet the hairdresser appreciated you laughing because what the f**k is a hairdresser supposed to say to that?”
“Laughter summed it up better than anything else could have.” – Ok-Succotash7483
“It was better for OP to burst out laughing than for the hairdresser to do so. It could cost her her job.” – Rodney_Copperbottom
“I’ve been in this same customer service situation years ago. I still think about that lovely human that laughed at the situation while I was stuck in CS hell trying to be polite.”
“Lady is a dumba** for not understanding how a discount works. I explained it in many ways while she insulted my intelligence. When she finally realized she was wrong and being ridiculous and rude, she stormed out.”
“Me and the laughing customer had a lovely what-the-f**k moment. That happened like 20 years ago and I still remember it.” – vicki_chicki
“Based on the title, I was so ready to come in here and read about what an obvious a**hole you were, but absolutely not.”
“That woman was being absolutely ridiculous to the point it was probably difficult not to respond by laughing. NTA.” – _Kenndrah_
“As a hairdresser, 100% NTA. She can keep her eyes closed if she is that worried about being blinded.” – Chelular07
“NTA, the woman was making a scene, as long as you didn’t carry on about it you’re fine. The whole situation is kind of ridiculous tbh (to be honest), I probably would have laughed a little too.”
“Also just out of curiosity did the woman leave with half-cut hair, or did she finish getting it cut? Because if she left with half-cut hair I would blame you less for the laugh (not that I blamed you, to begin with).”
“it’s generally a bad idea to be rude to the person with scissors who’s cutting your hair. I bet the hairdresser is a decent person, but some people (probably very few though) might snip a chunk off your hair and not tell you.” – darthazura
“NTA (giggle). Some things are just so ridiculous (guffaw) that they give you a gut reaction (snort) and you just can’t help yourself (teehee). You’re all right by me, OP. I would have laughed, too. How did the stylist hold it in? Keep up the sense of humor.” – Cautious-Damage7575
“NTA, how does she think haircuts work? With a laser and just cut it off in 1 go without messing around with her hair?”
“Hair has layers, the hairdresser needs to move hair around.”
“It’s not how things operate. Although next to your goggles options. I am now imagining the hairdresser laying on the ground and focussing her laser on her while she holds out her hair to ensure it doesn’t fall in her face, ‘hold still…'” – ToastAbrikoos
While some Redditors could understand the concerns of hair being sharp when it’s cut, none could get behind the woman’s reaction by mistreating her hairstylist. That was uncalled for, they agreed.
But what the subReddit could get behind was the OP’s reaction. The woman may have not appreciated it, but it likely lightened the moment for the surprised hairstylist and probably took some of the focus off of her and gave the OP more of the heat from the woman.
Little reactions like that, though they may not be appreciated by everyone, can be surprising enough to be funny for the people involved, and lighten the moment enough to move on.