Fresh Braids, Hot Gists...Hair Salons.

I've been an apprentice at a hair salon once upon a time, and let me tell you, everything you’ve heard about what goes on there is true. If you want to know what's going on in the neighborhood where you live, just find your way to the nearest hair salon and sit there for a few hours. You can then decide if you want to start up a broadcasting channel later. You walk past a hair salon and it's quiet? That's weird. Maybe they're waiting for you to pass so they can change the topic with your story.

Half of the people I know now were people I came to know from the hair salon I worked at. Not because they came to do their hair or whatever, I knew them from overheard gists. The only thing that will forever unite women is when there is hot gist. Especially during festive seasons, when everyone wants to look good. They’ll come over in their numbers to make themselves look nice and at the same time give us the latest news in town.

Two birds, one stone. Yeah?

You want to hear how a man brings women home when the wife is at work? Or the woman who is going through domestic violence but is scared of losing her marriage? Or even the young girl whose mother sponsored her abortion because she got pregnant?

All these and many more, you will hear at a salon. Nobody asks for it, but the moment someone walks past, then there’s definitely a story or two.
It all starts with, "Do you know that man that just walked past now..."?
Then the whole place starts buzzing with premium gists and laughter.

Funny thing is, most times, some of them don’t even have a beauty mission at the salon. They just come around and either join conversations or give out their own piece of entertainment, as long as people care for it. And the truth about this space? There will always be one or two persons who are ready to listen to whatever comes up. Someone really needs a listening ear, hence the chatter and drama. It’s just their way of probably unwinding from all the day’s anxiety and stress.

Interestingly though, it’s not always about the gists. I’ve learned quite a few things just by not minding my business. Is there even such a things as minding my business? Gists find me when I'm just doing my work. And of course, I listen and decide what to do with the information later. Some have been valuable because sometimes these women share their own stories, how they manage their homes, how they balance work life and family affairs, a few pieces of real advice and hacks about just anything.

I mean, it was at the salon I heard that to wash a burnt pot properly, you need to boil water with a some detergent in it before scrubbing, the stains just comes off clean with less effort. That caterer woman will forever be in my heart

So yeah, the salon is that place that connects people. The only place, aside from a therapy room, where people talk freely about anything. A perfect place to be updated about what’s going on, or not. You might want to be careful though, or you’d be next up on the headlines.