August 14, 2007 Adventures in shampoo purchases.

So how often is it that something happens in your life that could soon become a commonly read email joke?

Well, after 28 years of living my own life I'm beginning to realize that by just being me, going about my day as I already do, I may never be a comedian but I sure as heck might get a few chuckles with my apparent ability to re-tell the story in written form.

So let's begin with my short tale The Shampoo Story:

Ok... so this past winter I developed an extraordinarily nasty case of dandruff. I haven't had dandruff since junior high back in Winnipeg so this sucks. Combine that with my uniform for school and it sucks even more because in my case the flakes were HUGE! Not just a light dusting, but like 'take out small children' huge. I think it's because I burned my scalp SUPER bad one day hanging out with a friend this past summer: 6 hours in the sun without protection LOL you'd think that a girl like me would know better then to leave home without protection (or a camera LMAO) *wink*.

Sorry I'll refocus: Dandruff. I'd tried my old remedies that worked in the past but with no success so I decided I'd buy a bottle of Head and Shoulders. However, FIRST I needed to shave my head as I was starting to look 'shaggy' in that way that only I can.

Now let me remind you, it's been 3 years that I've beend= shaving my head. Prior to that I had a supply of shampoo that would have lasted me (with hair) for at least 6 months. Now one bottle will likely last me 5 years! LOL so it's been a TERRIBLY long time since I've wandered down a shampoo aisle.

Let's continue: freshly shaved head and all, I left for the grocery store - Superstore if you need details.

I got to Superstore and found the shampoo/hair stuff section and scanned looking for the Head and Shoulders. Woohoo...I saw it on the bottom of the shelves of course because no one wants to admit to having dandruff. For Pete's sake!!! We live in Canada...EVERYONE has it at least once. (Did you know Winnipeg is the unofficial dandruff capital? They use it as a centre for testing new products and treatments but in more recent years have had to search for willing participants elsewhere because they've been curing the dandruff problems so well!)

Ok. I got there and I realized that in the lifetime since I last purchased hair products, H&S had expanded their product line to meet the needs of ALL consumers. GREAT! I had choices.

Looking over all the bottles to see what I had to choose from I said to myself "hmmm... there's 'Soft and Silky', 'Oily Hair', 'Dry Hair', 'Normal Hair', 'Original', 'Sensitive Skin', 'Extra Volume', 'Refreshing Scalp'...WAIT did that other one say Extra Volume? That's JUST what I need...isn't it?" LOL

I did go back to the Extra Volume just because I got a kick out of it and I thought..."Wouldn't it be interesting to see what the gal in the checkout line would do?" But then I started to put it back thinking that'd be a waste as she'd probably not even notice. But before I could put it down...an older lady came around the corner and I turned and smiled at her greeting her politely. It's what I do. She smiled back and said "Hello"...looked at my head, then the bottles of shampoo on the shelves, then at my hand (holding still the extra volume bottle) and back at me and my head:

I don't know if she could read the 'Extra Volume' on the bottle I was holding...but the look on her face was priceless! She didn't say anything more at all: Just looked SO perplexed and quickly continued past I imagine thinking maybe I was crazy.

In the end, I decided to go with the 'Refreshing Scalp'. It's nice and I think it might be working!

...

But wait...my humorous tale can't end there! A week after this has occurred...a week of laughing about it with friends and joking in emails about the situation...I come home after a Tuesday class (so I've been gone all day) and I check my mailbox before heading upstairs. Inside there is a small envelope...the yellow bubble wrap style and I can feel that there is something bulky inside. There were no noticeable stamps or anything to say where it was from (why DO they use red ink on these in the first place...can't ever see them) so I thought maybe it was a surprise gift from a friend in Spain. I got up to my place and opened the envelope:

What more can I say except that I received the perfect, bubble wrapped punch line to an already entertaining experience!

…The envelope had inside a sample bottle of Head and Shoulders.