Simply Outrageous

Clare wrote:

I’m a student training to be a hairdresser in the UK. In my entire 36 years on this planet I have never felt more discriminated against than I have these past 4 months.

When I received my kit for the course the scissors I was supplied with were of inferior quality. I was surprised to see that my right handed classmates had all been supplied with a decent brand and reasonable quality model. Mine were so poor they wouldn’t cut, so I ended up supplying my own scissors that were of the same quality as those of my class mates.

By sheer bad luck they were lost by our wonderful mail service when they were returned by the sharpening company during the Christmas break. I have tried all the major wholesalers for replacements and not one of them holds physical stock in the left handed versions they sell. They claim they have to be ordered specially and it takes weeks to get them in.

I got some through the internet but had to send them back as when they eventually arrived (3 weeks after I ordered them) they were defective – to replace them I was looking at another month. I decided to upgrade and order a ‘better’ pair from a different company but was horrified to find that the two major manufacturers only make one or two left handed versions of their scissors.

If I was right handed I’d have a huge choice from Jaguar, ranging anywhere from £30 up to hundreds of pounds with all price ranges and abilities catered for. As a lefty they start at £40 and then jump to £150+. In all honesty the £150+ pair are above my current ability but it was either that or have to buy a pair from Joewell for £235. And why is it that these companies charge more for the same size and model just because it’s left handed?!?

It’s been over 2 weeks since I paid for my new scissors and this morning I got an email saying that they had just been sent from the factory in Germany. If I am lucky I might have them the middle of next week. The guy’s website claimed that they were available and would be dispatched within 48 hours… This was the reason I ordered from him and when I told him this he responded by telling me it was my fault for being left handed.

I have missed out on all of my practical lessons since returning after the Christmas break because I have nothing to cut with. If I was right handed the college could have loaned me a pair for these lessons but guess what?

They don’t have any left handed scissors and can’t help me!!!

I don’t know if being left handed is a recognised minority in the UK but I sure would like to see this so all these blasted companies have to stop penalising me for it :(