If anybody figures out how to cut hair from a distance of 6 feet, Chattanooga hair stylists would like to know.
Maybe if your barber had really long arms and some long-handle pruning loppers ...
Kidding.
Of all the people hurt by COVID-19 business closures, you can't blame barbers and hair stylists for getting a little snippy.
Shut down by government decree, they sit on the sidelines. Waiting. Sharpening their scissors. Wondering when customers will again be comfortable feeling other people's fingers in their hair.
Debbie Tomas, of Ringgold, Georgia, is a hairstylist at the Strand salon in downtown Chattanooga. She last worked on March 23. By then, customers were already getting skittish about the spread of coronavirus, she says.
"People were definitely getting scared," says the 26-year-old mother of two. "We were getting a lot of cancellations."
For awhile, stylists at the Strand tried taking people's temperatures at the door. But then orders came to shut down non-essential businesses. Who knows how long this timeout will last?
Meanwhile, our hair is collectively going bad. Our eyebrows growing like privet. Our necks growing bushier. We're blinded by bangs. Call it hideous home-bound hair.
Tomas, and her husband, Francisco, who also cuts hair, get a kick out of watching TV news anchors' hair growing more unruly by the day.
Tomas says a few of her customers have reached out to see if she is open to cutting hair at home. The answer is no.
"Technically, it's illegal to charge [for haircuts] at home unless you have a business license," she said.
Tomas says her family is relying on savings to bridge the income gap, but when we talked she was also hopeful about filing for unemployment insurance soon. The federal government has promised to boost each state's normal unemployment pay by $600 a week through July 31.
"I try not to stress too much. It's really not in my hands," Tomas says. "We've saved up. We've got a little cushion."
In the meantime, Tomas says, she is trying to enjoy added time with her children, Aavah, 6, and Gabriel, 7 months.
"Aavah misses her friends," Tomas says. "I bought a little pool for the baby, and Aavah has her Slip 'n' Slide."
At the same time, Tomas says, she misses being with her co-workers and customers.
"I miss seeing my clients," she says. "We connect on a personal level."
The hardest part, she says, is not knowing when this separation will end.
"It kind of seems unpredictable," she says. "I feel like we are getting close to a peak. I just hope to get back to normal, back on schedule, soon.
"It's weird being away from people. Going to church online is not the same.
"Fingers crossed, we'll be back soon."
To suggest a human interest story, contact Mark Kennedy at mkennedy@timesfreepress.com.
Contributed Photo / Chattanooga hair stylist Debbie Thomas