I'd Have Baked a Cake!

You may recall the BF and I recently became homeowners. And, seeing as how we are nearing the end of the moving process, it looks like we may also survive to live "happily ever after" after all. There for a while I was ready to take my (conveniently already-packed) toys and go back to Mom's house!

But, like I said, it looks like my real BF has returned after being replaced by the obnoxious moving-Nazi who's been bossing me around for the last few weeks, and now we can get back to settling into the new house.

How does that pertain to nails? Well, we had our first impromptu visit last night. We'd just finished clearing the boxes out of the middle of the garage and had put the canoe back into its rightful place and closed up the big garage door, when the dogs started barking like there was no tomorrow and the BF looked out the window and asked me, "Are we expecting company?"

Since we're accustomed to being fairly reclusive in our home life, we are pretty much never expecting company so I looked at him like he had suddenly sprouted antennae. He looked at me like I should have expected him to sprout antennae, and said, "Naomi maybe?"

Naomi is an old-time on-again/off-again client and one of my practice models. She also works at a pet store, so she knows the BF and the dogs. And her in-laws live just a few blocks from the new house. So she saw the garage door open and decided to ride her bicycle down to visit us and see the new house.

It occurred to me that this is really what we — you and I as nail techs — do every day. We receive visitors. We entertain guests, expected and not. No matter what our day has brought so far, no matter what our mood is, no matter how hectic, stressed, or tired we are, no matter what state the salon is in, when the door opens and someone walks in, we smile and greet that person. We offer them a place to sit, a beverage, we ask them how they've been, how we can help them — we make our very best attempt to be gracious hosts.

I know my revelation of how my daily business helps prepare me for social situations in my personal life is not of great import to the industry at large — but it was something that occurred to me as I waved goodbye to our guests last night while realizing that their visit didn't stress me out or throw me for a loop like it might for many other people who suddenly find company at their door on a weekday evening when they are filthy and tired from having just rearranged their garage. It was nice to see Nae and her hubby and we hope to have them over again when we have some furniture and cold beverages in the fridge. I just wonder how many other people in the industry find their personal lives have been helped by the social skills we learn on the job?