This was my first graphic story, completed in a workshop 4 years ago. Fox and Obel might have bit the dust in the years since, but the theme remains timeless!

After I moved to the city from the suburbs, I re-sourced my personal services closer to where I lived. However, hair happiness trumped distance and I continued to drive to Hip Salon in Schaumburg to see Jimmy, my stylist of many years. It had been so long since I had gotten a bad haircut, that I was lulled into complacency about the prospect of finding a stylist closer to home.

The more I pondered this idea, the more reasonable the possibility seemed.

Feeling confident with my first recommendation from the girl with the cute hair at Fox and Obel, I started on my journey to replace Jimmy and end the tortuous commutes to the suburbs. When I walked into the salon and met Casmira, I felt an instant connection. She nodded knowingly as I voiced my concerns.

“This isn’t going to be so bad,” I thought. “What was I so worried about?”

But as Casmira began to cut, I was filled with a sense of foreboding. Her hand seemed giddy and the snipping took on a life of its own, faster and faster, louder and louder.

Nervously, I looked for reassurance.

                                                                                                                                                    AAACCCCCKKKKKK!

My worst fears had come true! She didn’t get it! Why did I ever think I could replace Jimmy?

Sensing my distress, Casmira attempted to rectify the situation.

Salvation was at hand! I gladly forked over the big bucks for the magic wax, ecstatic that the repair had worked. In a saner moment, I may have questioned why I was not only paying for a bad haircut, but the expensive goo to fix it. This wouldn’t have happened on Jimmy’s watch, but for now I was happy.

Down, but not out, I waited for the sides to grow out and tried again. Tried and tried and tried, as it took 2 years, 6 stylists and a drawer full of styling products to finally end up at Salon Buzz in River North with Duc. Thank you, Duc, and Jimmy… I miss you.

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