RANSVESTIA

Finally it was almost time so I went into the beauty shop. The girl at the reception desk asked my name and I gave her the name I had made the appointment under, a bit of insecurity there perhaps but..., and waited for the police to come pouring in from all sides. After about five seconds I decided that at least I had better breathe or I wouldn't even be on my feet very long.

The receptionist checked the name off, asked me to wait a second and went back into the shop. "This is it!", I thought, but presently she re- appeared with another girl behind her. She introduced the girl as the operator who would take care of me and went back to her desk. The op- erator asked me to follow her and we went into a small room with several reclining chairs and sinks behind them. There was one customer receiv- ing a permanent seated in one of the chairs but she didn't seem to be very interested in Jeanette so I sat down as requested.

The girl asked me how I would like my hair styled and I said since I didn't really have any ideas - she should just see what she could do that would go well with my facial shape.

So far, so good, and now for the moment of truth. I had to remove my wig. Well, the best way to get wet is to jump in so in I went. I had brought a wig case and I put my wig into it and sat back in the chair. After she wrapped a towel around my neck and fastened a plastic cape around my neck over that, she proceeded to wash my hair. Now for you, Virginia, I imagine this is somewhat old hat but for those of us who have never "been there" before it was really something else. As a matter of fact by the time she was finished I found that all the nervous tension I had built up had washed away also. Next, out of the chair with a towel over my head and into the main room of the beauty shop. This was a large room with from fifteen to 20 operators chairs in it arranged around the side of the room and about the same number of dryers arranged around a central column and facing the walls.

The operator placed me in one of the chairs and proceeded to comb and set my hair. Needless to say I watched what she was doing with con- siderable attention. As she worked she talked, more correctly she asked questions and I did my best to answer them. It turned out that she had never worked on a TV before but a lot of hippie types had been in to have their long hair taken care of. I asked if she had expected a man or had only the receptionist and manager known about it. She told me she knew a man was supposed to come in but when she had first seen me she