A very long time ago, Eleanor, a friend who worked in the Hudson’s Bay store in Vancouver, was going to get her hair done in the Bay (they used to have a hair salon right in the store), but she didn’t have an appointment.
“If you come back in about 45 minutes I can do your hair,” the salon receptionist said.
“No problem,” said Eleanor, “I’ll just browse around the store while I’m waiting.”
Eleanor wandered around the hat department and tried on different hats. She looked in the mirror and laughed as the hats seemed to change her personality with each different hat style.
At last the time was up and, still smiling, she entered the salon to get her hair done.
The salon girl lifted some of the tresses of Eleanor’s hair. “So what are we doing today? A shampoo and cut?Suddenly she dropped her hands and said, “I can’t do your hair.”
“Why not?”
“You have lice.”
“WHAT?” Eleanor’s jaw dropped. She shook her head. “You’re kidding. I don’t have lice. I’ve never had lice.”
“Yes, I’m sorry, but you do have lice and I can’t do your hair,” the hairdresser repeated.
“Well!” Eleanor harrumphed. “If I have lice, I got them in this store.”
“Where did you go in the store?”
“I wandered around looking at some dresses and then I went to the hat section and tried on some hats….” Eleanor’s eyes grew bigger. “You don’t think….”
“Let’s go see,” the hairdresser said.
They went from one hat to the other, all the ones that Eleanor had tried on. The hairdresser picked up a tam that Eleanor said she’d tried on, and said, “Oh … my … here is the culprit.”
The inside of the hat was crawling with the tiny critters.
“I’ll do the treatment on your hair for free,” the hairdresser told her.
*****
I haven’t tried on a hat in a shop ever since I heard this story.
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