As a hairstylist, I consider myself an essential worker

As a hairstylist for 44 years and a salon owner for 34 years, I consider myself an essential worker, even if Gov. Ron DeSantis thinks otherwise.

A person can’t get his or her hair styled, cut or colored on Zoom.

The stylist or barber and the client are inches apart when a service is being rendered, so there is nopracticing of social distancing, either.

Many of our clients are doctors and nurses.

Grocery store workers are deemed essential workers.

However, people can have their groceries delivered by Instacart and other online grocery delivery services.

There’s a psychological impact on not looking one’s best that is being ignored.

This is particularly true in Miami.

When the lockdown began , my clients began begging me to style their hair.

[On May 19, former Miami-Dade Mayor Carlos Gimenz ordered all nail salons, golf courses, offices, trampoline parks, casinos and social clubs to close.]

They told me that they were being safe, lived with older parents or had to return to their native countries.

They didn’t want to be seen by their families, friends and employers with gray roots, split ends or shaggy hair.

The trick to surviving the pandemic is to adapt and evolve, which is what I did.

I developed a method to provide my services in a faster, more efficient manner, with far less contact.

Masks and sanitation are obligatory, and my clients loved me for it, rewarding me with a generosity that surprised and humbled me.

As an active 68-year-old (who wants to stay that way), I hope hairstylists and barbers start getting the respect they deserve and start being seen as the essential workers they are.

– Douglas Gonzalez,

Coral Gables