As many hair salons anxiously wait to see if their doors can begin to reopen May 15, one salon owner in St. Landry Parish is in no rush due to a close call with a client.
A woman who typically sits in her chair on Saturday's was on the schedule March 21, until the owner of A Time for Me Salon decided to cancel all clients the night before. A move that avoided other clients from being exposed to COVID-19.
"If she would've came Saturday morning, on top of the 20 appointments that I had, no telling what type of walk-ins I was going to have because people were starting to get nervous. They knew the governor was shutting everything down," said Robin Castille.
Despite wanting to get back to business, Robin Castille believes doing hair right now puts too many people at risk because there are no guaranteed ways to prevent close contact.
"Customers that I dearly love with all my heart, they're like family in their 80's and I have immune-compromised customers. I just don't feel like it's safe at this moment to be on top of people," said Castille.
The determination from some clients to get back in her chair, disregarding the possible dangers, is shocking to the salon owner.
"There's more than half probably who are not taking this seriously and in turn affects all of our lives, our lives are in everybody's hands," said Castille.
Even with the possibility of salons reopening May 15, Castille says the likelihood of her reopening is slim.
"If St. Landry Parish keeps climbing, I will not open up in phase one. You need money, but it's not going to keep me alive," said Castille.
