Stop Talking and Listen!

I'm on a seemingly endless hunt for a hairstylist. Since I've moved, I've yet to find that connection. Oh, sure, they can cut hair in that way most stylists seem to do these days.



Talent with a pair of scissors is important. But there's something more I'm looking for. I want that connection that you get with a stylist. You know, the one that makes going to the salon something like this:



I've now been to three separate stylists and guess the one thing they have in common. They all asked not a single question about me.



"What did you talk about?" my mom asked. That's a good question. Thinking back, it was mostly small talk about the local community, the other customers who have been in, and their own lives. I realized, though, that I didn't ask them questions about their family. Mostly because...




It just seems alarming to me that not a single stylist so far has actually wanted to get to know me. It seems most of them are disinterested altogether. I want that bond, but when they couldn't even tell you my name five seconds after I walked out of there, it feels a bit like I was just a number.



It's not just the hair salon, either. It seems everywhere you go, people just want to talk about themselves. And I have a very, very low tolerance for listening to it.



How do you get out of boring conversations? Does it matter to you if your service providers make conversation or is "comfortable silence" fine?