All my Facebook friends know that this week has been a rough one for me. After coming back from vacation all primed and pumped and ready to tackle another 21 years of doing nails and not having a long enough break to breathe between clients last week...this Monday dawned with a significantly slower schedule.

But that’s fine. I have about a zillion non-nail things to get done and I was looking forward to a couple of less hectic days in the salon.

Then, on Monday afternoon (mind you, I work a Monday-Friday work week), a new client who was booked for a full set texted me about half an hour before her appointment to let me know that she was stuck in an appointment in a town 40 minutes away. She offered to pay me any cancellation fee she might owe as a result of the late notice, but I assured her that I appreciated that she gave me notice pretty much as soon as she knew she wasn’t going to make it so I wouldn’t charge her. I also offered to reschedule her to another day this week.

And that was the last I ever heard from her.

So I’m left with a feeling like maybe she was just looking to get out of the appointment. Maybe someone else offered her a better deal. Maybe she decided she didn’t want her nails done after all. Maybe she joined a cult, renounced all worldly possessions, and moved to an Aleutian island. But she never replied to me at all, which leaves me feeling stood up, despite her notification.

Tuesday was a new day, however. And it was scheduled to begin with a new client and a full set. This particular client had been quite insistent on getting ahold of me, leaving me voicemail, texting me, and messaging me via Facebook for an appointment. I was really looking forward to her set, as she had told me how much she loves Halloween and wanted me to do a whole set of Halloween-themed nails.

I had booked off three hours for this set and I was looking forward to it. I stopped feeling so enthusiastic when I was still sitting here waiting for her at 15 after...and 20 after...and, well. Then I just gave up altogether. Never heard from her again.

Then, yesterday, I got text messages from both full sets that had been scheduled for today.

It’s pretty rare these days to have this many no-show/late cancellations in a week, but it sure does take the wind out of my sails when it does happen.

Looks like I might have to seriously revisit my cancellation policy — I certainly have enough time to rewrite my policies now.