A conversation at the salon

A while ago, I was getting my hair cut by my regular hair stylist, expecting to go through the usual exchange of questions and answers about work and family and such. This time, my hair stylist was already engaged in a discussion with another customer or friend who was sitting in the corner of the room. So as she began to snip and the scissors skip around me, I just sat, relaxed, and listened in.

The ongoing conversation was interesting - it seemed like the customer was explaining why she was a Christian and trying to convince the hair stylist that she should be too. I hadn't heard a conversation like this at the hair salon, and especially have not heard this type of conversation in Chinese before.

The conversation quickly went downhill as the customer didn't seem to be able to respond adequately to my hair stylist's statements. My hair stylist believed that most religions are good and are basically the same - they teach people good morals and to do good. She didn't have a problem with any person believing in any specific religion, but she also didn’t seem to believe there was only one true religion.

I wanted to chime in and say that religions may all seem superficially the same, but if you really study them, they are extremely different. I wanted to say that religion isn’t just about teaching people morals. It explains a lot more – why we’re here, how we got here, what/why is there evil, what is the purpose of life, etc.

I didn’t though. I wasn’t able to say all those things in Chinese. (Plus, she was the one cutting my hair, and I was already getting a bit nervous because she was getting a bit animated in her conversation with her friend.) She seemed like she already made up her mind and was unopen to exploring her friend's thoughts at that moment anyway. Perhaps asking her about her beliefs and how she arrived at them would have been more productive.