When a senior client couldn鈥檛 leave his car for a haircut, a Lumby hairdresser brought the haircut to him.
Jesse Blades has been cutting Glen鈥檚 hair for a few years now. When she first met her elderly customer he was able to walk into her Beauty & the Barber salon on Shuswap Avenue, but as his health declined, she started going to his house for his appointments.
鈥淎nd then he was put into a home just before COVID, so I hadn鈥檛 seen him in a long time,鈥� she said.
Glen鈥檚 wife, who still pops by the salon to say hello from time to time, recently asked Blades if she could cut his hair, which had grown long over the months of the pandemic.
Because Glen isn鈥檛 able to walk, he wasn鈥檛 able to leave his car outside the salon. So Blades brought her clippers and a bib out to his vehicle.
鈥淚t was really hard,鈥� she laughed, referring to the cramped space without a swivel chair or her usual setup. 鈥淏ut we joked around quite a bit and we had fun with it.鈥�
Photos of the passenger-seat haircut garnered heaps of praise on the Around the Block Lumby Facebook page.
Glen, too, was appreciative of the gesture.
鈥淗e doesn鈥檛 talk a lot anymore, but he realized who I was and he just kept smiling,鈥� Blades said. 鈥淭here鈥檚 one picture where we鈥檙e staring at each other and I tear up every time I see it because he鈥檚 just got a little gleam in his eyes.鈥�
It鈥檚 not the first time Blades has taken her clippers outdoors for the sake of a client with mobility challenges. A year ago she had a client whose wheelchair couldn鈥檛 fit inside her shop, so she gave him a haircut on the side of the road.
Blades said it鈥檚 been a challenge for Glen to access hairdressers and other services during the pandemic. That goes for many others at local retirement or long-term care residences, according to one of Blades鈥� clients who is a caregiver.
鈥淟ast week, I was trying to give her tips on how to cut hair because she鈥檚 trying so hard to keep all of the clients in there looking fresh,鈥� Blades said of her caregiver client.
Blades said she was glad she could help her senior friend stay looking fresh 鈥� just in time for World Kindness Day (Nov. 13).
鈥淚 want the world to see a little bit of kindness right now,鈥� she said.
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