Failed terrorist plot or collapsed airline . . . discussion in the salon

I finally went for my first haircut here, an outing I had been dreading. I looked through the yellow pages for the lay of the land, I walked by salons in town, and I made phone calls to see who was friendly and who wasn’t. All of this to try to find the coolest place in town because my hair is very, very important. I mean, who’s isn’t, right people?

I’d settled on a place called Solo, based on a couple of the above criteria. On Wednesday I walked by to inspect in person; it was in a cute house on a main strip in town, white décor, and a male stylist—I’d always wanted my hair cut by a man! My trip inside to make an appointment was positive, very nice, cool setup, they understood the concept of a razor cut, etc. So an appointment was made for two days hence.

You may be wondering why I’ve started this posting with my haircut after the heading I gave you. You’ll find out, you already know I take the long way around!

Anyway, I went in today for the cut only to learn the shop had just opened on the day I went in to make the appointment! They are new, young staff, and they didn’t like the way salons looked across town, so the male stylist is the owner and he opened up his own shop. All went well, I have an awesome cut and a new salon, PHEW! You know it’s a good cut when your husband notices . . . and even says he likes it!

So to the topic at hand, although it’s not as important as my hair :) . You’ve all sat with your stylist or at the barber shop, all the gossip, the latest news, you cover many topics. What did we talk about in the chair? I figured that the terrorist plot that was uncovered would be all the rage in conversation, after all, Don and I spent the evening prior (when it was first announced while you guys were sleeping) and this morning transfixed on CNN learning about the details.

Nope, when I brought up the terrorist plot, my stylist Mia said, with a wisp of her hand, “You’re safe here hun!” And then she quickly brought the conversation to what is more important here in the land down under: last night around the same time as the terrorist plot announcement was made, the New Zealand commuter airline Origin Pacific closed up shop for good, canceling all flights and dismissing its Nelson-based staff of 260 who spent every day moving Kiwis all over New Zealand. I didn’t realise at first that the airline was Nelson-based, so those lost jobs are mostly in our area. This had nothing to do with the terrorist plot issue, the company just closed up due to lack of profit.

Don went to a dinner two nights ago at which the possibility of the airline closing was briefly discussed, as if it was a remote possibility. His host and our neighbor, Lilly, introduced us the week prior to her son-in-law Ross who is a pilot for Origin Pacific. He actually moved back to NZ a few years ago from London, retrained to become a pilot, and absolutely loves his job. We were planning to see if he would take us up for a flight over the area, as he had offered (in a tiny plane, not the mini jet). No more, he’s likely lost his job for good as he has no seniority. What a shame!

Origin Pacific is basically your commuter airline alternative to Air New Zealand, who otherwise owns the nationwide market completely. Now ANZ is all we have, the word monopoly being used almost right away. To make this even more local, apparently there was an agreement between the two airlines to funnel OP passengers to ANZ flights today and beyond to avoid disruptions. Then a Nelson MP (member of parliament) said something in the media that apparently pissed-off a corporate big-whig at ANZ, so ANZ pulled their offer and now all OP passengers have no travel recourse. All politics is local, all EVERYTHING is local, especially in New Zealand.

This is probably the most local I have felt since I’ve been here; Don and I were so focused on world events and no one here seemed to even care about those global issues. Instead, the local airline scandal has everyone talking. It’s good to have that realisation brought to our attention!