I am getting ready for a trip to visit my parents (if you recall, they live half the year in the same town as me, and half the year quite far away), and yesterday evening I hit the sweet spot of stress-turning-to-energy and got a ton done. I was tearing around the house handling things left and right: some specifically travel-related stuff, but also the In Case of Death stuff I do because when I travel outside my usual range I feel like it’s pretty likely I’ll die, and if that happens I want everyone to be totally caught up on clean laundry.
In the midst of all that, and in that heightened state, I cut my own hair. I know there are people who always cut their own hair and it’s merely practical and not at all alarming, but for me it is a little alarming: it was not a calm, practical thing, but more of an “impulsively grabbing half my hair and sawing off a handful with scissors, and then grabbing the other half and doing the same thing” thing. This morning when I woke up and saw all the hair in the trash, my eyebrows went way up at my last-night self. On the other hand, it is a huge relief to have it shorter (it had hit the length where it felt like a heavy, tangled burden), and I wear my hair twisted/bunned up so do I really need to pay $25 to have someone else cut a straight three inches off the bottom? Perhaps I will do it this way from now on. It came out really well. I will probably need to snip a few weird pieces here and there after I wash it (right now I am in my pajamas taking advantage of the quiet house before everyone else gets up), but just flipping it this way and that and looking at it in the mirror I don’t see anything that looks like a pre-travel-stressed woman did it to herself. So overall I’m pleased.
I went to another march/rally last weekend, and it was very different than the first one I went to. The first time, I went to one in a big city, and it was just like those news photos you see where people are packing the streets. This time I went to one in a much smaller and nearer city, and it was not at all the same thing; and if imagining being in those news photos fills you with dread, it might be much more your thing.
Just for starters, there were probably 500 people at most, spread loosely over an area that could have handled ten times that number. Saying it was “much less crowded” would be an amusing understatement. But that meant I felt much more foolish joining in with chants, songs, etc: it felt as if everyone around me could clearly hear me, rather than my voice disappearing into a vast noise. Also, while the crowd was large for the area and so was still encouraging, seeing a scattered bunch of people in a nice park was nowhere near as encouraging as seeing more people than I ever see, filling streets where people don’t usually stand. This felt more like the times my childhood church would hold an outdoor service.
On the other hand, there was ample free parking and cleanish bathrooms and I didn’t have to figure out public transportation, and it didn’t take me half the day to get there and back. And there was zero feeling that anyone could get trampled or put in prison. There were no helicopters. We could see the stage and hear all the speakers talking.
Overall, I preferred the giant crowd and the helicopters; and even though last time I was so nervous about the subway, the subway ended up being part of the whole thing: seeing all those people cramming in, all of us on our way to the protest! (Plus, I could follow them instead of using a map.) But if you hate the whole idea of the crowd/helicopters/subway, I strongly recommend one of the smaller satellite locations: quieter, easier, more spacious, less fraught, but you still get to participate.
My son and I also went to a protest this weekend (the one Lin Manuel Miranda was at, and I didn’t see him at all). We went with a group of progressive organizers (folks from SEIU VA 512, New Virginia Majority, and VCET (which is an organization of organizations)) and their families, mostly young children. We all ended up in one of the corners of the space, under a shade tree, and when we felt like it, we’d grab our signs, emerge from the shade, and go deeper into the main body of the crowd, and then would come back to the shade of the tree. We couldn’t hear or see anything, but let’s face it, we knew what they were saying. We could join in the chants, and we shouted down the anti-abortion people who were gathered outside the park. Kind of the best of both worlds.
At one point, a fire truck came with a mister and everyone went running through it and got beautifully soaked.
Two more thoughts about smaller more local protests:
1) If the point is to make your local representative sweat, he or she is more likely to care about 500 people in their own district.
2) If you live in the kind of city or area where people wonder if they’re all alone in caring about something, even three people standing on a corner holding signs can make a difference/encourage other people to speak up.
So glad that you were able to attend a protest!
I do the In Case of Death stuff, too. Seems ready to spring at me from any corner so might as well be prepared.
I am buoyed by your repeated attendance at protests. Not enough, yet, to do it myself. But reading about it and thinking, okay, that doesn’t sound so bad is a very minuscule baby step toward attending one myself.
The haircut sounds like it turned out GREAT. I do wish there were an accompanying picture (which seems unfair when I never post photos of myself), but I am glad it turned out so well.
If you want to continue cutting/trimming your own hair, I highly recommend a styling razor:
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0009G0HV2/ref=sspa_dk_detail_1?psc=1&pd_rd_i=B0009G0HV2&pd_rd_wg=I9qdo&pd_rd_r=BQ7DEHT5M5NMDXV703PR&pd_rd_w=ATOhA
The advantages are twofold: easier to use behind/around your own head than scissors, and it cuts a slightly varied line, so your hair won’t show any scissor marks. This is especially good if you trim Elizabeth’s bangs. I’ve been cutting my own hair with one of these for about a year and a half (every 6-8 weeks to maintain a shoulder length style) replacing the blade every other cut. I still have some replacement blades left.
I come from a long line of women who cut their own hair (by which I mean my grandmother and mother, because I’m not sure about older generations than my grandmother). It is not a scary as people might expect.
In recent years I’ve been using clippers for the sides and back because I went quite short, but this weekend I wanted a bit more length to my short layers, so went back to scissors. I’m happy to report that it turned out fine, even though I had to do the back by feel. It’s probably about a inch and a half long at the top of the back of my head, but with quite a bit more length on the top, parted on the side.
It’s a good skill to have: I had a woman offer me $200 cash in Hawaii to cut her hair when I said I cut my own and my daughter’s. No joke.
did you do it?
I did not. Too much pressure and my hair scissors and clippers were back home. I thought she was joking but she saw us on the street a few hours later and reiterated her offer.
Glad you went to a protest! I went to one of the big ones and it was not nearly as big as the Women’s March. We parked a mere 10 minute walk away and then went to a park and stood on the grass which was cooling. The downside was that there was limited shade but the upside was that we got to see/ hear Maxine Waters speak! There really is a nice feeling of comradery at these protests. Everyone is very well behaved and helpful.
I admire your bravery and talent at cutting your own hair. Even when styling mine I have a hard time working with the parts I can’t easily see.
Oh good for you for going! I bet your hair looks great too. :)
I cut my own hair, but it’s very simple hair and is largely because I haaaate going to hairdressers. They’re always perfectly nice, but I am not comfortable spending 20 mins making small talk with strangers when I’m in such a vulnerable position. I hate how my hair looks all wet and plastered to my head. I can do 2-3 mins comfortably and that’s eet.
My hair is long, and it’s mostly straight with a little bit of curl, and I mostly wear it in a ponytail. So I pull it all forward across my shoulders, across my boobs. I use 2 or 3 cuts to take a few inches off one side and get it reasonably straight. then I do the same on the other, then I snip any strays. Then I brush it back behind my shoulders again and inspect with a mirror to see any more strays that I didn’t quite get.
Then I put it back up into a ponytail and mostly people don’t even notice. Which suits me perfectly!!
We missed the protests in DC last Saturday because we were driving home from vacation. I’m glad you made it to yours. I have to believe it will make a difference, in the long run.
I’ve done big protests in DC and small ones in my town and the next town over. They have different feels and different uses. ( I like that “This is What Democracy Looks Like” chant, too, that you mentioned in the older post.)