What’s up, doc?/The Aveda “Experience”

Unfortunately, I had to visit the doctor last week for a recurring foot problem. After placing a few phone calls to my home doctor/insurance company, I finally got approval to see a podiatrist—but where in this big, big city to go? I don’t really know anyone here who’s seen a podiatrist (because most of my friends aren’t old women/extreme athletes/major klutzes who drop their laptops on their toes), so I wasn’t sure where to start. I decided to hit up Google Maps to see if there were any doctors near my work and ended up finding Grand Central Podiatry. I have to admit, I was nervous about going to a doctor that I had read no reviews on and who was located in a mainly residential building with office hours after 5 p.m. (and who could get me in on the very day I called!). Sketch. But I’m happy to report that I had a really fantastic experience. I was seen by Dr. Roger Hans (his website is hansfeet.com) who was a total pro, even with a really nervous gal like me. And I think my feet problems are finally solved—at least until he finds something else wrong with ‘em and tries to convince me to put lifts in my shoes (I can barely fit my feet in my shoes all by themselves!). So if you’ve got foot issues, I totally recommend this place.

Let’s contrast that to my other appointment last week… my haircut. First of all, I’m a total cheapo when it comes to my hair. No dye, no fancy cuts… I’m a pretty low key hair girl. When I used to live in North Carolina, I’d get my hair cut at the Aveda training institute. I did have friends that had bad experiences there (after all, you are getting your hair cut by students), but I’d always had really good experiences. So I thought, well, if I had good haircuts in a small town in NC, I’m sure the hairdressers at the Aveda school in NYC must be really, really good… right? Uh, no. Let me just give you some highlights… it was my hairdresser’s very first time cutting a paying customer’s hair… she looked through a giant pile of study flashcards before picking up the scissors… and her hands shook the entire time she snipped. I felt totally sorry for her and I really tried to be nice about it (after all, someone had to be her first customer, I guess!), but it wasn’t the best experience ever. I’m thinking next time it might be worth the extra dough to go to a real salon… if you know of any cheap but good places in NYC to get your hair did, let me know!