Julia Apodaca-Lane decided to a few inches off of her hair when it got too long.
So, she went to a salon and sat down.
There was one hairdresser working, and when she saw that Julia carried a cane with her, she sensed that Julia had some sort of illness.
For Julia, this was a common – she had psoriatic arthritis, which is a form of arthritis that often features red patches of skin with silvery scales.
After her recent surgery, Julia was required to walk without a cane. In addition, the symptoms were present in other parts of her bodies, including her scalp.
Normally, though, any hairdressers would notice Julia’s scalp condition and give her advice for products – they knew what Julia had.
[rsnippet id=”4″ name=”DFP/34009881/Article_1″]
However, this hairdresser was different. What she asked to Julia completely left her speechless.
She said, “What’s your diagnosis?”
And then she pointed to Julia’s scalp and asked her again – “What’s your medical diagnosis? I can see something’s wrong.”
Julia told her that it was just psoriasis, and that it was not contagious. Then, she expected the hairdresser to go on and cut her hair.
But, she said the opposite thing. She said that she could not cut Julia’s hair. Even when Julia explained what she was suffering from in detail, and reassured her that it’s not contagious, the hairdresser refused to provide service.
Shocked, and embarrassed, Julia walked out as fast as she could. She then sat outside, crying, and called her husband to pick her up as soon as possible.
Julia was in part of a private support group for psoriatic arthritis on Facebook, so she immediately logged in and wrote about this devastating experience.
[rsnippet id=”5″ name=”DFP/34009881/Article_2″]
“She made me feel self-conscious. She made me feel like I had done something wrong.. that there was something wrong with me,” said Julia.
While the members all comforted Julia, the hair salon actually responded and said that staff members could refuse service if they feel their health is at risk.
What do you think? Do you think the hairdresser was right to refuse to cut Julia’s hair? Or do you think Julia should have been able to cut her hair just like anyone else?
[rsnippet id=”6″ name=”DFP/34009881/Article_3″]