Entitled People·
THE HAIR FOR FREE
A devoted partner pushes for a free haircut to save money for his birthday, sparking a tense boundary clash that tests loyalty, money, and respect.
Restart the style, or walk away?
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His birthday was tomorrow, his hair appointment was already booked, and then he canceled it to save money, only to ask for the same service for free.
The poster and their boyfriend had been together for a little under a month when his birthday started turning into a hair drama. He had a regular appointment scheduled for yesterday after work with his stylist, but he mentioned the stylist might not be available the day before his birthday. The poster told him not to stress: if that happened, "I would do it instead."
Then he floated a bigger idea. He asked if "it would be crazy to cancel his appointment," and explained he wanted to "save money to be able to afford to do something nice for his birthday." The appointment got canceled.
After that, he asked the poster to do his hair anyway. The poster agreed, even though they said they were in need of money and felt put off that he "wouldn't be able to pay me due to him trying to save." They went with him to the hair store and kept the purchase as small as possible, following his instruction to "keep it to the bare minimum for the sake of affordability."
Back at his house, the poster started a retwist and two-strand twist style. Partway through, he interrupted with a new problem: they needed to hurry because "his mother was coming home from work," and he had only told his father that "I was coming over." The poster said they were frustrated by being in the home without both parents knowing and by being rushed in the middle of the process.
When the work was done, he said he "really liked his hair" and told the poster they "could finish tomorrow (today) after he gets off of work." That sounded settled, until his break at work, when he called back with a different opinion. Now he said he "didn't like the quality of his style" and wanted the poster to "start over."
The poster said they were open to criticism and wanted him to love the look for his birthday, but the switch in tone felt insulting. They told him, "I felt disrespected," especially because he had just said he liked it and because they had not even had the right tools to get the exact result he wanted. They also reminded him that "I was in need of money to pay my phone bill that was overdue," and said their service had been shut off immediately after taking him home.
So the poster drew the line. They said they would "respectfully take down the progress that we made in his hair," but "I would not be restarting."