Nermin and Sanja sat beside each other, both with wet hair held up by clips. After fifteen years of marriage, they had come to the hairdresser together for the first time. Their daughter had said they would look like two dandelions at the family lunch, so they booked consecutive appointments. They requested almost identical short cuts. Their hairdresser, Lejla, joked that remembering the order would be easier.
Afterwards Sanja reached for her purse. Lejla quoted the price of two men's haircuts. The owner, arranging shampoos behind her, immediately corrected her. A woman's haircut cost considerably more. Sanja looked in the mirror, then at her husband's head. Her hair was actually a little shorter. 'What extra did I get?' she asked.
The owner explained that women required more attention. Nermin had just spent ten minutes discussing the shape of his sideburns. Sanja did not have to mention that. Lejla mentioned it. A hairdryer stopped, along with a conversation by the washbasin. The owner turned to his employee and said that the price list was not a matter for her judgement, especially in front of customers.
Lejla tightened her fingers around the receipt. She had worked there four years and remembered who could not tolerate the smell of hairspray and who needed a lower chair. She could let Sanja pay and preserve a quiet afternoon. Instead she said he would need to explain exactly how she should distinguish the two services, since she had just performed them with the same tools in the same amount of time. A woman with foils in her hair began applauding, which frightened Lejla more than it pleased her.
Nermin wanted to pay the full amount simply so they could leave. Sanja caught his sleeve. They were not arguing about money they lacked. They were arguing because the woman who had cut their hair was being made to look incompetent before them. Sanja paid the original amount and left Lejla a tip. The owner said she was making a scene. She pointed towards the silent hairdryer and said the scene already had an audience.
The price list did not change that day. A month later Lejla moved to a smaller salon with a single price for a short haircut. Nermin again requested carefully shaped sideburns. Sanja waited for him there with a newspaper and glanced at the clock. 'You can charge him extra,' she said. For the first time, Lejla laughed without looking towards the office door.