Trade-Offs

I usually get my hair cut at a salon at the mall by Mona who has been doing it for years. The cost for a shampoo, cut, and blow-dry is $36. I could go elsewhere and pay less, but since it's only a couple of times a year, I don't mind paying a little extra. The last cut I got there in September is growing out rather raggedy, and it's been bugging me for a couple of weeks. This morning I decided that I would run in one of those "quick cut-no-appointment-needed" places and get it trimmed up. And they might as well shampoo and blow-dry it, too, and save me the trouble. It cost $25, which was a bit more than I expected, but it's done. During the thirty minutes that I was there, Rosa tried to sell me (in this order) shampoo, hair color, eyebrow waxing, manicure and polish, a gift set of salon products, gift certificates, a fluff-up blow-dry prior to parties, and hair spray. Mona, with our long history, doesn't try to sell me anything I didn't ask for. As a matter of fact, she always comments on how pretty my graying hair is, and discourages me from ever coloring it. I think having to schedule an appointment, driving to the mall, parking at the mall, and paying an extra $11 are worth not having to listen to a thirty-minute sales pitch. What trade-offs in life are you willing to make?