Today’s life lesson:
Deal with stuff when it comes up. Procrastination is not your friend. 
(originally posted on Facebook, November 2018)

I went to the bank this afternoon and replaced my debit card. I’ve known for several weeks that I’d lost/misplaced/donated-to-the-wind my debit card and that I’d need the thing sooner or later, but I just didn’t feel like dragging my antisocial carcass to the bank. There was no unusual card activity (I checked online) and I gambled that if I could barely remember my PIN#, it would be highly unlikely for someone else to guess what my elementary school pet’s maiden name was. 

So I did nothing about it.

“But how did you survive without cash?”, you might ask. Or you might already know that I haven’t carried cash for years. I either put my purchases onto a rewards-earning credit card or I bat my eyelashes at the handsome husband and he pays for whatever we’re doing out in the world. I also tend to use magical Internetty store app things that I’ve loaded onto my phone, where the account balances miraculously top themselves up every few coffees. 

You know what I was doing? I was foolishly assuming that every vendor on the planet was ready to accommodate my digital financial needs.

Hold that thought...

I’m on a bit of a “take my business to small businesses” kick lately. (Except for coffee at the Odd-looking Green Mermaid Planetwide Chain; I’m keeping that franchise going. But I digress.)

Hold that thought, too...

Also, my favourite hairdresser semi-retired and moved a while back so I’ve been avoiding getting my hair cut. Over the past year or so, I’ve grown my bangs out 3 times. This is not a fashion & style choice; this is squarely on my lack of enthusiasm for finding a new hairdresser. 

When desperation and hair-induced blindness have driven me into a stranger’s chair, I’ve just randomly wandered into Faceless, Nameless Franchise MegaCuts at the mall and hoped for the best. 

So... yesterday, I realized that my grey roots were probably longer than the faux blonde split ends, and something needed to be done. Something serious, involving scissors and chemicals being wielded in the hands of a professional. 

As I was walking down the street towards my darling daughter’s school, I spotted a hair salon. The sign at the front door advertised reasonable rates and I thought, “Aha! Try this local business, and see how it goes.” Five minutes later, I was the proud owner of a shiny new hair appointment for the next morning (today, if you’re scoring at home.)

Spoiler alert: I’m delighted with my cut and the colour is great. The lady doing the work owns the shop and clearly does excellent work. She even took my friend in as a walk-in and gave her an awesome trim. 

Furthermore, this sweet woman was gracious enough to let me leave her shop — without paying! — because I couldn’t pay without cash or a debit card.

(Let me emphasize that I am NOT complaining about her not offering credit card use. I am 100% the weak-link in this story. I fully understand that a small business has to count the cost of those options.)

Immediately after leaving her shop, I booted my embarrassed butt to the bank and replaced my debit card. I then used said shiny, new card to withdraw sufficient cash so that I could return to the salon and be certain that I could pay. Could you imagine how appalling it would’ve been to get there and have a problem with the new card? Not a risk I was willing to take!

Now I’m sitting quietly, enjoying my paid-for hairdo with a clear conscience. When I walked back into her salon, that sweet lady greeted me with a smile and again was so gracious about the whole situation. A situation that wouldn’t have come up at all if I’d just dealt with my missing debit card when I first noticed it was gone. 

Lesson learned.

I feel much better with my hair looking like I’m actually trying to take care of myself, too. And yes, I have bangs again. All that exposed forehead was adding years to my youthful face. 

Finally, as a treat for the nice stylist and especially to thank her for her kindness today, I tipped appropriately and I gave her a gift card to a local café just down the street from her salon. Did I mention the “support small business” kick?

~ 30 ~