Hold the Hairspray, Pass the Taittinger?

Well, folks, you hear a lot of things coming out of other countries that make you scratch your head, but this one from New Zealand just about made me spit out your morning latte. Apparently, getting a haircut down in Kiwi-land has been a much more… sobering experience than I could have ever imagined.

New Zealand is actually relaxing rules that, get this, BANNED serving refreshments in hair salons! I had to read that twice. You’re telling me that for all this time, Kiwis have been getting their highlights and trims without even the offer of a cup of tea, let alone something a bit stronger? And it wasn’t just a suggestion, it was a rule!

It sounds like they had a whole bunch of "pointless bureaucracy," as their Regulations Minister David Seymour put it. He even mentioned a ban on dogs in barber shops (unless they're guide dogs, thankfully). Now, I’m all for a clean salon, but no Fido and no fizz? It sounds less like a pampering session and more like a very sterile, very quiet haircut.  The irony that, despite being follically challenged, I am still so surprised New Zealand salons were under such bans, should fill you with wonder.

Apparently, the New Zealand government a whole review and decided, shocker, that maybe these rules were just "unnecessary problems for businesses." Minister Seymour wants to take a "serious trim" to these regulations, "really shaving it back to the scalp," which, I gotta admit, is a pretty good haircut-related pun.

His point is pretty simple: if a winery can give you a sample without a mountain of paperwork, why can't a barber offer a drink to a "long-suffering customer"?  He even threw in a classic "that's how a free society works" for good measure. 

So now, the cabinet has agreed to these changes, and they’re hoping to get them fully in place by July, though the booze part still needs to go through some more legislative hoops. They’re even talking about replacing the hard rules with guidelines and then checking back in a couple of years to see how it’s all going. Officials reckon this could save businesses about a million dollars a year. A million bucks saved by letting people have a glass of champagne while they get a blowout? Wow.

Salon owners, like Emma Axford-Hawkins, seem pretty chuffed. She basically said if setting up a bar in her salon makes her more money, she’s all for it. And honestly, she makes a good point – salon owners already have a huge incentive to keep things clean and professional, or their business would tank anyway.

Even the customers are on board. One regular said it would "make a better connection with the barber," and another just straight-up said, "we're all adults... if you want to have some sauvignon blanc you should be able to have some." 

It just boggles my American mind a little that this was even a thing. Here, offering a client a coffee, a water, or even a glass of wine at a fancier salon isn't exactly headline news – it's just good customer service. The idea that the government was regulating whether or not you could have some pinot noir with your perm is something else!

It’s a good reminder that what’s normal in one place can be totally foreign in another. So, next time you’re sipping a complimentary sancerre while getting your roots touched up, spare a thought for the Kiwis who are only just about to enter that brave new world.