Here are excerpts from your interview with Roberta Begley, 20, a student at Lisa's Salon and Beauty School at the Regis Hotel:
I'm trying this out for a while. My mother Vivian is a hairdresser and that's how she's supported my brother and me for the last 15 years since my father died. But I am still taking courses at St. Mary's. I'm majoring in sociology. I like this work because you get to talk to so many interesting people. Like the woman yesterday who said she raises dogs for sale. Puppies. They're Labs, a friendly dog. I used to have one.
We are learning all sorts of things. Styles change, you know. Sometimes, it's a short cut, sometimes people want their hair long. But I have to say something. Most of the people in this business rely on their tips. The pay is minimum wage. Even those of us who are students need the tips since we are not being paid. And what I have to say is that Freeport women are lousy tippers. Sometimes, they give you a quarter, sometimes a smile and a thank-you. I'd like to tell them: "Come on. Look at the bill. Take 10 percent of it if you are short of money; 25 percent if you're not. Make that the tip. Hello, are you listening?"
Maybe I shouldn't say this. You think I'll get in trouble? I guess it's all right. Might help people who work hard and don't make much.
You are to write this for a weekly feature, "Freeport's Young People." The stories run 100-150 words with a photograph of the person being profiled.
