I'm Still Smart

Early morning reminder of my intelligence (or lack thereof).

I'm not a morning person--I rarely do any writing in the morning because of it. Actually I rarely do much of anything in the morning besides roll over. Most people who know me know that I say good morning around 12 noon. But seeing that my hair was becoming quite unruly, I gathered all my energy to get my hair managed this morning. 8:30 in the AM. Gracious. The last time I got up for an 8:30 appt. on any regular basis was for Freshman Biology--and even that was a tag-team effort. (Story for another day). But my motivation to get up this early was high for a number of reasons. 1) My regular stylist, who is really the only man on earth I trust with my hair, is not working this week, therefore 2) I wanted to get up extra early to check out this new place my mom recommended to me, so 3) Since it is a Black hair salon, I wanted to get in before the normal rush to make sure the stylist had plenty of time and could concentrate on my hair. Nothing worse than an hair accident during rush hour--you're mad, you're annoyed, and you're stuck in your seat for another two or three hours at least.

So I walk into this really cute shop--I must say it's one of the nicest hair salons I've been in down here with mostly reasonable prices. As soon as I walk in and introduce myself, the stylist recognizes me--"you're Mon #1's daughter, aren't you." So we go through the Southern song and dance--"yes ma'am"--"you look just like her"--"yes ma'am"--"I haven't seen you in years, you are still so tiny"--"yes ma'am." But this stylist added a new hook to the song--"I hear you are still smart." (Record screeches to a halt in the background). Still smart?

Why is it that whenever you add the word "still" to something, the statement becomes a pseudo-question. You still short. You still pretty. You still look good. You still fat. You still married. You still at that job. I remember the first time I heard an older woman say to a friend of mine, "Girl, you still got them big 'ol hips I see." 1) Where were they supposed to go and 2) She lives with them every day so I'm sure she didn't need you to point them out. So apparently, I'm still smart. And for the record, I'm still Black, I'm still tiny, I'm still broke, and I'm still standing. And I'm ok with that.

**Oh and my hair. Going early was great--I was in and out in a little over an hour which is an hour less than normal. The end result looks good--but the technique was not great--I'm used to getting my hair whacked off, but I don't usually feel the whacking part....**