I was watching Steel Magnolias a couple of weeks back. One of the most charming things about it is how Truvy's hair salon serves as a communal meeting place for our cast of characters. All forms of gossip flow in and out of that place, and it sets the stage for future plot developments. (Julia Roberts, we're looking at you.) It makes sense, right? Hairdressers hear a lot of things, especially if they develop a rapport with their clients.
Redditor icerock547 asked the online community,
"Hairdressers, what is the juiciest gossip you have overheard from a customer?"
"Yikes."
Hairdresser here, I've heard so many stories. People truly tell their personal business to their hairdressers as if we're therapists.
Had a client, sweet middle aged woman, she brought up Scientology. Having heard and watched that show about it I went in about it. "Oh they're absolutely crazy, blah blah blah..." And, she blurts out that her son is a Scientologist. I wanted to sink into the floor, then had to backtrack and, agree about all of these "nice" things that they do and how, yeah, you're right, DEFINITELY not a cult. Yikes.
"I politely declined."
Hairstylist here. I had a customer invite me to their "basement casino"... I politely declined. This was in city with no casinos. A few weeks later I hear from their neighbor, also a client of mine, that she and her husband got arrested in front of their small children for the whole ordeal.
"And Susan stands up awkwardly..."
I apprenticed under a stylist (Jess) that was working on a client she had known for years (Susan). The stylist was complaining to us about how she was dreading her next appointment because it was this old married guy that always propositioned her for sexual stuff.
He made her so uncomfortable but he always tipped her $100. Jess was going on and on about all of the outrageous things he would do, like tipping her a $500 gift card to a ski shop when she told him she had plans to go skiing (he would come in every few weeks so he knew he would see her again before she left) for her birthday, etc. He didn't know, but Susan and I knew, that Jess was a lesbian. We were all laughing about it and how awful it was that he was married and had kids and stuff. After Jess was done cutting her hair, Susan sat in my chair so I could blowdry her (typical apprentice duty) while Jess took her next client (the guy). So Jess goes to reception to grab her client and they walk back to the stations, and he sees Susan in my chair and says "Hey! Susan!!" And Susan stands up awkwardly and gives him a hug, exchanging funny awkward looks with Jess and I. Jess laughed awkwardly and asked how they knew each other. They were next door neighbors.
"He doesn't tell anyone where he goes."
A local CEO of a telecom company secretly disappears every winter for two weeks. He doesn't tell anyone where he goes. He's married and has children. One of my department's paramedics is gay and goes on gay cruises in the Caribbean. He spotted the CEO on one of the cruises during one of his disappearances.
"Apparently her husband..."
Regular monthly client came in and shared screen shots from Craigslist and texts from strangers with me. Apparently her husband had made a post looking for men to have sex with, but accidentally put her phone number on the post instead of his (one number difference).
"More of a sad story..."
Former hairstylist. More of a sad story than gossip, but I had a client open up to me about how her husband was a truck driver who was murdered by a hitchhiker. 20 year old me was not equipped to handle that conversation.
Also, so many clients having affairs.
"Turns out..."
I have so many different stories. First one was a client (let's called her Betty) who was talking about how her friend's daughter got into a new line of work. Posting her feet on Instagram for money, writing really... really dirty things. After talking a bit more, turns out Betty's friend and her foot posting daughter were weeklys at my salon.. let's just say me and my coworkers found the instagram. We had to see if it was real.
Second, overheard a client talking to another stylist about how she was going to a wedding tomorrow and that the soon to be husband was for sure cheating on his wife to be. Turns out, we were doing a wedding party the next day. I was working on the maid of honor when she broke down and went up to the bride and told her that she was sleeping with her fiance. I felt terrible for the bride, but that was... an interesting sight to see to say the least.
"The mayor's wife..."
The mayor's wife cheated on him with a member of the town council and then they got into a fist fight during a council meeting.
"I was a stylist for almost a decade..."
I was a stylist for almost a decade and people really do share all of their dirt. One of my friend's clients openly talked over the course of several appointments about how she was having an affair with some local millionaire mogul (it's Philly, they're all nobodys) and when she got pregnant with his child she was shocked pikachu that he didn't want to leave his wife and start a family. She was like, a 20 year old yoga instructor and thought she had it made.
"I live in a politics-oriented city..."
I live in a politics-oriented city and I got some dirt on what it's like to work in this White House. Long story short: Not pretty.
@jaketapoer/Bluesky
