Five years without a manicure

Yes, the title is true. I went (at least) five years without a manicure.

But this changed earlier this month when the bridal party for my sister’s wedding went to a nail salon for manicures and pedicures.

So why did I somewhat purposefully avoid manicures? I have a hand; I have nails. It may sound silly, but I didn’t want to get charged full price when the technician would only be doing half the work. I also didn’t want to awkwardly ask for a discount.

My motivation was my sister’s wedding. I knew I’d be in pictures and holding a bouquet. I was already getting my toes done, so I figured why not. If they charge me full price, at least I knew I’d be getting a discount by combining a pedicure and manicure. (For those unfamiliar with pedicures and manicures, it’s cheaper to get them together than separately.)

I give a lot of credit to the woman who did my nails. She did my toes first, then we moved to a table do my manicure. She set down the container of warm soapy water and said, “You can put your hand in.”

It’s her recognizing not to say “hands” that I was impressed with. Even I catch myself saying, “I need to wash my hands” or “My hands are cold.” It’s what we’re used to saying, and I understand that.

And when it came time to pay, I did get a discount. I’m not sure if it evened out to being half the price of a normal manicure or not, but taking anything off the price was enough for me. It showed me they recognized I shouldn’t pay the full amount.

Will this prompt me to get more manicures now? Probably not. But it’s not because I have one hand. It’s because I chip all the nail polish off too quickly. It’s less than two weeks later, and all evidence of a manicure is gone.

But for anyone in Bay City, Mich., I highly recommend going to Five Star nail salon.