Fresh Hair-Truly a “Joy” to work with
While getting ready for a party she was throwing, my 15-year-old daughter somehow intricately intertwined a clump of her hair into the bristles of a brush. Through her tears she begged me to help. I quickly came to the realization that this was beyond my capabilities—save cutting off the clump of hair and tossing that miserable brush away. That idea was unacceptable.
Those of you who can remember being a 15-year-old-girl or being the parent of a 15-year-old girl can appreciate the magnitude of this situation. My daughter was hysterical. The party was due to start in under two hours.
In desperation I called Fresh Hair. I explained the situation to the woman who answered the phone. She asked, “What do you want us to do?”
I pleaded that I was hoping that they could get the brush out of the hair. She explained that Fresh Hair was closed, but said she would ask the owner, who was still there. My heart sank. I did not expect anyone to appreciate my situation the way I did, nor for a business owner to open a closed store for such an issue. To my surprise, I was told, “Joy said bring her in.” (I learned that Joy Silverstein is the owner of Fresh Hair on South Street.)
Sure enough, Joy was there at the door when we arrived minutes after hanging up the phone. Joy was a godsend. She took my daughter by the hand and managed to get my daughter’s mind off the horror of it all by talking about the party, hair care products and lord knows what else. I was too busy pacing the floor and watching the clock.
Exercising great patience and skill, Joy managed to free the hair from the brush, in many instances carefully extracting the hair strand-by-strand. It took Joy nearly an hour, but we left with my daughter’s hair long and flowing—all of it, and with 20 minutes to spare before the party started. The party was a success. It was wonderful to see my daughter smiling.
I shared this story to pay homage to a local business owner that is truly a great asset to our community. What Joy did was way and above what anyone should expect of a business owner. To help out in such a situation is one thing (no small feat), but to do so after hours, was a great act of human kindness
While we were at Fresh Hair I noticed that they were celebrating their 25th year in business. I completely understand and appreciate why they have been so successful. Fresh Hair truly is a “Joy” to work with and an asset to our community. This father wishes Joy and company another 25 years of success.
(By the way, I have withheld my name and that of my daughter only because if others found out who we were and that this happened my daughter “would just die.”)
Editor’s note: Do you have a story about a local business that went “above and beyond the call of duty” to help you or someone else? People who are not affiliated with that business are welcome to send their stories to the Gazette for publication in “Business as (Un)usual.” Please give your name and contact information for verification purposes. We will withhold senders’ names from publication if there is a good reason for doing so.