I had an interesting experience at SportClips yesterday. I've been getting my hair cut there for the past couple of years, except during the summers when I generally shave my head. I like going to SportClips because it's cheap, the people are nice and there normally isn't much of a wait. It's a lot different than the place I used to go to just off Michigan Avenue, in Chicago...
I used to go to this place that charged $25 for a haircut. That's kind of expensive (for a guy's haircut). The worst part though was trying to dodge the shoe-shine guy. He'd use high pressure tactics to try and get people to let him shine their shoes. Just when I became effective at thwarting his efforts, he decided that he would expand his business and become the coat-check guy, as well. Every time I went to this place for a haircut, he'd try to take my coat from me. I'd resist, because I was already paying $25 for a haircut and I wasn't about to tip this other guy just to put my coat on a hanger. Moreover, the closet he hangs coats in has a huge sign over it that reads "NOT RESPONSIBLE FOR LOST/STOLEN ARTICLES." Who was this guy kidding!? I'm supposed to tip him for NOT being responsible??? No thanks, I'll just keep my coat with me.
So anyway, I'm at SportClips the other day and I decide to knowingly fall victim to their latest marketing scam. When you first sit down to get your haircut, they unroll a towel that has the scissors and comb in it. And then they tell you how lucky you must be, because there just happens to be a "10% off any styling product" coupon stuck inside of the towel. After having the good fortune to "win" this coupon 7 or 8 haircuts in a row, I began to think that there might be more to this than my incredibly good luck. Nevertheless, I needed to get some pomade when I was there yesterday so I decided to take them up on their 10% discount (Knowing full-well that they had already marked up the products an additional 10%).
I go up to the cash register and the girl got a nervous look in her eye. She then went over to the lady who had cut my hair and started whispering something to her. They both kept looking over at me. I've seen this look before. It was when I was walking home from work last summer. The two ladies in front of me kept looking back at me nervously as they quickened their pace. Apparently I have a "serial killer" kind of look about me when my head is shaved. But now I'm in the middle of a SportClips, with my hair grown out, in the middle of the day. Why did these ladies seem so nervous?
After a few moments, they came up to me and said, "Sir, we're sorry to tell you this, but we have no idea how to calculate a 10% discount. Can you help us?" Oh. So their nervousness had nothing to do with me. They were having a math anxiety moment. I was amazed that between the cash register, the adding machine on the desk and their two brains, they had no idea how to calculate a 10% discount. So my guess is that they're either really good tippers or really bad tippers when they go out to restaurants.
I was tempted to tell them that a 10% discount brought the price down to exactly $0.00. From what I had seen so far, I could probably have gotten away with it. But instead, I ripped out a sheet from my planner and gave them a short math lesson, explaining how to move the decimal place over and then having them do some practice exercises.
