Disappointed by salon mandate

I am very disappointed in Gov. Ned Lamont’s decision to rescind the opening day of hair salons from May 20 to a date unknown. His reason related to a group of hair salon owners who were not yet ready to open. However, he did not take into account the many salon owners who used their closed time these last two painful months to make their shops socially safe for opening day — and at considerable expense.

I am a patron of Salon Shahin which sent a letter to patrons with a detailed list of changes being made to ensure the safety of its customers. This included taking the temperature of every stylist and patron before entering, having many fewer customers at one time, mandating masks and gloves on everyone, sanitizing frequently and on and on. There are other salon operators who were prepared to do the very same thing and therefore open safely May 20.

I was eager to resume my patronage when I read the salon’s strict re-opening protocol. I and dozens of other patrons made appointments to see our stylists and get this moribund economy moving again. The appointments were spaced out over the ensuing weeks because the salon had to cut the number of appointments acceptable in each time frame to ensure appropriate social distancing. Now we are all once again on hold. To me this is unacceptable. Of course, I have no recourse but to accept.

The governor should have sought input from other salon owners, not just those with the loudest voices. Any salon unready to open could have opted to continue to close their doors. Those with the appropriate and strong opening protocol should have been permitted to open. Sandy Goldstein is the former president of the Stamford Downtown Special Services District.