Boards

Laura's board date was set for August 5. I was her model and of course I was supposed to be in a workshop at my school that day. But hey! What's my priority here? My kid, of course. The testing was being done in Glendale and we knew we wanted to stay in a hotel nearby so we wouldn't have to deal with morning traffic. The beauty school had provided us with names, and we chose the least expensive. We got a room for $89. I put it on a credit card. Dealing with the debt is something I'll just have to do. And anyway, my newest saying is, "It's only money".

Laura had to be at the building for the state Board of Cosmetology and Barbering at 7:15 a.m. She was up early and scouted it all out. She had to rent a kit from a 'kit store'. Now there's a nice little business! These 'kits' are packed in very large rolling pieces of soft luggage. Inside there are about 10 containers plus scissors, a curling iron, shaving cream, towels, soaps, combs, liquids and towels, towels and more towels. There's even a mesh laundry bag for the towels after they're used. Everything the testing candidate needs is in that kit.

It was your basic non-descript government building in the style I refer to as California Stark. On the fourth floor were five very large rooms. Each room had eight stations. Each station had a client's chair, counter, mirror, hairdryer, manicure table, and a stool. As a model, I was instructed to be silent, not to help or speak to the testee, and not to read the notebook of procedures they had to follow. It was so quiet in there, it was hard to tell anyone else was in the room----or the building for that matter. The examiner stood at a large rolling podium. The barbering candidates were in the room directly across from us, and I could see them from my seat. Sometimes I would look up and they'd be giving their models a shave or a hair relaxer, and other times I'd turn and the entire room would be empty. When did they leave? Where did they go? I hadn't heard a voice or rustling or the sound of feet coming or going. This silent thing was almost eerie.

At 7:45 the examiner unlocked a closet in the testing room, took out eight numbered notebooks, and distributed them to the eight stations. We were at Station #8, so Laura was given notebook #8. Then the test began. To mimic chemicals, shaving cream is applied to the hair. I was grateful for that since Laura's first procedure was to relax my hair and give it a 'virgin bleach'. Several procedures-----or 'services'----later, it was 10:20 and the examiner announced it was break time. By then I had shaving cream all over my head, one foot pedicured with bright red polish and an acrylic nail on my left pointer finger, also done in the bright red. I hadn't known we were going to have a break, but Laura and I got to go to take my shaving-creamed self to a nearby shop for coffee. At 10:40 the testing resumed and this time, instead of doing procedures for another 2 1/2 hours, Laura only had to do them for an hour. It was during this time that I got my haircut. I was able to guess what her instructions had been: do a scissor guideline with a razor cut. Since Laura had done a practice cut on me in the hotel the night before, my hair was quite a bit shorter by lunch time.

When the procedures were over there was no break, even though it was what most people would consider lunchtime. Laura finished before anyone else in the room. I know that can be a sign of someone doing really well or really poorly; it never means they were in the middle.

I went back to the hotel to shower, get the shaving cream out of my hair and lose my acrylic nail. I asked the person at the desk if I could have a later check-out but he said they were all booked and I would need to get out by 1:00. No swim for me. I showered, packed up all our things, and loaded them into the car.

Fortunately, the hotel backed up to a beautiful outdoor mall. I went over there and windowshopped, not a favorite pasttime, but it was a way of passing the afternoon until I heard from Laura that it was time to pick her up. She called in about a half hour. She was at the hotel and needed to wait until 2:45 to go back to the Board offices to get her results. The girl testing at Station #7 had also stayed at our hotel and had given Laura a ride back.

At 2:45 we went back and I waited in the car while she went up to the fourth floor to find out how she had done. About twenty minutes later she came down running, leaping and waving a paper. She not only had passed but they had given her her license right then and there, with her photo on it and all. What an exciting moment! What a great day! My daughter was now a licensed cosmetologist.