I walk into the salon

Changes

It’s obvious I don’t belong

This place is pristine

Among the menopausal women

And the celebrity wanna-bees

The floor and walls are squeaky clean

I walk to the counter and the woman asks how she can help me

Her eyeballs are underlined

And a sparkly necklace glimmers at the top of her white sweater

I notice her polished nails and dazzling diamond ring

Wishing I had dressed better

“I’m here to purchase a gift card for my-sister-in-law

For an hour and a half massage”

In walks a woman thin and tall

Wearing a pink dress and a white shawl

Her friend behind her lets out a laugh

The woman in the dress scans me up and down

My hair a mess

Tennis shoes, running pants, hoodie

I feel like less

The smell surrounding us is overpowering

The woman in the pink dress says, “Excuse yourself,”

She lifts her nose

The lady behind the counter’s disgust shows

I step back then start to slide across the floor

There’s dog poop on the bottom of my shoes

The lady who laughed knew

I walk out, no gift card in hand

Dejected, rejected

I walk to my car and wipe my shoes in the grass

The horrid smell hasn’t passed

“Excuse me, ma’am – I’m so sorry – here”

I look up and there’s a lady holding out an envelope

Probably a parking ticket

My shoes are wet

I’m losing all hope

Enclosed is the gift card I’d set out to get

The salon manager apologized for how I was treated during the incident

She leaves

I’m grateful for the reprieve

I remove my shoes, the lost cause

Now I’m barefoot

Outside a salon

My feet are freezing

I try leaving but my car won’t start

There’s a tap on my window

Piercing me like a dart

“Carrie, what are you doing here?”

It’s my sister-in-law

Her face is flushed and her hair’s wet

She says, “I wanted to get you these shoes I saw.

I had to run here from work to buy them on time

And you know I hate running

But look how they shine.”

I smile and my spirit lifts

As she hands me a box, new running shoes – a wonderful gift

She’s sweaty and looks so tired

Her thoughtfulness I truly admire

“My feet hurt,” she says

“Take this,” I say

I hand her the envelope with the gift card inside

“Go get a massage,” I tell her,

“It will help your feet feel better.”

She says thanks and smiles wide

She looks at the salon and goes inside

I linger to put my new shoes on

Out walks the woman in the pink dress

Who had announced she was headed to a ball

Now there’s a big hole in her thousand dollar shawl

It had snagged Carrie’s keychain as she walked by

The lady didn’t know or else she would have cried

The giant hole at the bottom of her shawl went through her dress too and showed her underwear

Surely she didn’t know it was there

I reach out my hand — “Ma’am!!!,” I say

She recognizes my face then turns away

She gets into her car

But first steps into the dog poop trail I left behind

I look at the salon and see Carrie at the window

We smile at each other

I hope she knows I love her

I take off running in my new shoes

For Carrie and I got what we’d set out to find

It’s stunning – for Christmas presents the things we do