I needed a haircut. Badly. So badly, in fact, that I woke up in the morning ready to take scissors to my own bangs.
That kind of thing usually doesn't end well. 
I restrained myself from grabbing the scissors and waited until the hair salon opened, then called to see if I could get an appointment with my favorite hairstylist. She had done a really good job on the last haircut, so after a string of bad haircuts with other stylists I wanted to stick with this one.
While she was scheduled to work that day, the receptionist reported that she'd called in sick, but told me that if I came in as a walk-in, there were openings with other stylists at a certain time.
Now that's a gamble. What if I went in there and the only people cutting hair that day were the ones who'd given me bad haircuts in the past? Sure, the salon offers a guarantee (if you don't like your haircut, they'll fix it free) but when your hair is as short as I keep mine, that kind of guarantee isn't going to help much unless I'm willing to go for a buzz cut.
Finally I decided that since my options were limited to DIY (never a good idea, as I've said) or taking a risk on yet another stylist, it was a better idea to take a risk. And it paid off: I've had two good haircuts in a row! Better yet, now I have the names of two hairstylists who I know can cut my hair the way I like it. What are the odds?
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