My latest trip to Melbourne did not start well.

Day one was Christmas Day - a family Christmas Day ... say no more ... But if I thought that was bad, worse was to follow, and by January 2nd I'd all but given up.

I have however "turned the corner", thanks to Melbourne hairdresser, Peter. If you are ever needing cheering up in Melbourne town, you could do worse than to make an appointment with Peter of Myer's Bourke Street store.The salon's name is "Plush" and the number is (03) 9661 2808.

Not that I particularly wanted to have my hair treated at Myer, but it was the only place that answered the phone. My expectations were low, so I was pleasantly surprised ... and not only with the hairstyle.

I'm not one to chat with hairdressers, and certainly not on a down day; but Peter's manic sense of humour drew me out from under a very dark cloud.

But Peter is no longer called Peter. He now goes by his 'salon name' of 'Fire'. I renamed them all, after I'd explained the way my local New York hairdressing salon identifies the various stylists.

Fire was intrigued, though it took him a while to get the point. I'd explained how at 'Hair Fafella' on Manhattan's Upper East Side, the stylists have salon names which they choose themselves. Names such as 'Glamour', 'Water' and 'Pacific'.

"What can we call that apprentice?" asked Fire. "The grumpy one?" I asked indicating a tattooed young lass with pink hair and a parchment-white Geisha-like face. I'd been somewhat impressed by the way she'd slammed the coffee down, and told me how she would really prefer to be still in bed as who wants to get up these days. "What do you WANT to call her?" I asked Fire.

"Miss Grumpy????" he queried with the Melbourne upward inflection.

"It's not like the Seven Dwarfs," I explained. "You don't put Mr and Miss before the names." We settled with "Flame" - my suggestion.

The young man who rinsed the dye out of my hair was a little quicker on the uptake. "I'm River" he said with confidence.

A rather petite gentle looking blonde became "Blossom". And we were complete. Me with my new hair-do and the salon employees with their new names. Fire made notes on my card for reference. Then I saw he was labeling it. "Customers don't have new names," I explained patiently as River sniggered and Flame scowled. But I won't remember your name, Fire explained. So I'm calling you "American Lady".

Whatever.

I left in a good mood with an excellent haircut. So if you read this Fire, remember 'American Lady', and the fact that you made, not only her hair, but her day!

Kate Juliff
Melbourne
January 2008