Maybe it’s because the weather is changing and we are in that rare, and short-lived, time of the year when the heat isn’t on and neither is the air conditioning. So there are long periods of the day when the fan doesn’t run in the salon. (My HVAC system is similar to a car’s, with a blower motor that pushes the air into the room, so the fan is almost always running.) Which means it’s much quieter in here through most of the day.

Or maybe everyone’s gone deaf — or thinks I have.

Or maybe the planets are all aligned just right to get everyone all worked up about their daily lives.

Or maybe it’s because we’re alone in this little room together and people feel free to talk without worrying about who will overhear them.

But people are screaming at me lately.

Not like yelling at me, but several of my clients in the last two weeks have taken to speaking at an elevated volume.

It’s hard: I want to say, “Hey! We’re all in the same room, you don’t have to yell.” But I also suspect that some of the yelling is connected to personal stress levels and maybe they just need a place where they can rant.

But they are sitting 18 inches away from me! I suspect I’m visibly cringing at times. You’d think someone would notice.