The Death of Integrity, or, How I Found Utopia at the Hair Salon

By Carolyn J. Palo

I called the salon I have been frequenting for a few years to set up an appointment. After securing the date and time, I was asked, “Ok, what credit card would you like to use to secure your appointment?” Secure my appointment? What does that mean? I thought. “Why do you need my credit card now? I asked. "I usually give that at the end of my appointment.” I said. “We need your credit card to secure your appointment and if you cancel before giving us a 24-hour notice, then we will bill you for half of the services booked.” “Wow,” I thought, and also “Why?” I never cancelled an appointment. Also, I don’t want to give her my credit card number – I don’t know who she is and I already don’t like this policy. I’m a good person, I think, and I don’t cancel appointments. Now I have to compromise my identity because of a few bad apples.

“Wow," I said, so people must be cancelling a lot of appointments for you to have to put in this new policy.” I said. She replied “People cancel often and don’t call us, and we book the time for nothing and that hurts the stylists.” I could understand that. People weren’t keeping their word, and that was harming business. Yet, I always keep my word. My friends keep their word too. Was there some sort of wave of flakiness flowing through the city where no one will take you seriously unless you give them your credit card? “All the salons are doing it now” she told me. “Ok,” I said. I suspected that was not true, but I wanted to keep my appointment and figured I’d probe for more details when I got to the salon.

In my recent trip to California, I had to go through the security checks that I also find question my integrity, and that of everyone who passes through the gates. Due to one circumstance, we still have to remove our shoes. In a way, I feel as though we are not “protecting our freedom” but actually paying tribute to a terrorist who devised a plan to harm people by trying to light his shoes on fire. I’m sure he was intent on harm.
Yet because of this, my integrity is questioned each time I pass through the airlines. In fact, what am I really going to do with a full size tube of toothpaste or a regular sized bottle of hair conditioner that I cannot have it in my carry on?

The sad news of extreme fraud headlines the newspapers and media outlets. It amazes me that a Boston man of extremely high integrity - Harry Markopoulos - was ignored by the SEC in trying to expose a man of extremely low integrity, Bernard Madoff. How embarrassingly sad for the victims. The fact that this fraud went on for years is just salt in the wound for those who trusted a man with zero conscience or integrity. I wondered if Madoff or his wife had to put up their credit card each time they made an appointment at their salon.

In other news, it’s clear that here in Cambridge, where everything happens – a huge backlash involving a neighbor, a professor, a police officer and president has escalated into such a conflagration that it questions everyone’s integrity – even our President’s. As my mother would say “The road to hell is paved with good intentions.” A neighbor was concerned about a break-in. Police arrive and question a professor’s integrity – to prove that he actually is a resident of the home, the professor (a renowned scholar who specializes in his own race) questions the police officer’s integrity (a specialist in racial profiling) by raising his voice and inferring racial motives (why is a professor yelling at a police officer?) and the President decides to question (attack) the CPD’s integrity while they are doing their job, and the neighbor, who made the dreaded call, has to reluctantly come forward and defend her integrity as just a good Samaritan who made a call on behalf of what another neighbor saw.

In a nation that prides itself on “innocent until proven guilty” we have all of these scenarios and missives that point otherwise. We have become a people that have to continually defend ourselves as righteous and true, because somewhere, somehow integrity has been lost.  Or is it simply just under-utilized?

Needless to say, that my salon visit wasn’t very pleasant, and for prepaying ahead (so to speak), I didn’t feel I got the best service or haircut. I have found a new salon that is closer, less pretentious and has an excellent reputation. As a new customer, I called and made an appointment. There was no asking for my credit card to establish my credibility. My new stylist and I developed a nice rapport. We got to talking about where I was going before and I explained my experience and unhappiness with my last salon being more “Business Oriented” than “Customer Friendly” of course he was interested in learning more about this. I explained the credit card request to which he exclaimed (gasped) “I can’t believe they are doing that! "I can’t believe they are getting away with it!” he turned to the other stylist next to us, “Did you hear that? Did you hear what they are doing now?” The other stylist said “We don’t need to ask for a credit card ahead of time, we have a good business, we have great clients and everyone is happy.”

Ah, alas, Utopia.