December 3, 2021
I’ve been thinking about Miss Erma.
When I was in college, I went on a mission trip to Mississippi. Mildred McWhorter was a missionary and we rolled down and slept on her floor and made our attempt at doing the Lord’s work. Mildred’s mother was a small woman who sat in an upright chair with a can of AquaNet at her side. At random, she would reach down, pick up this aerosol can, and spray the front of her hair.
This made Miss Erma happy, and it pleased my besties, Jen and Sarah, to no end. I remember watching Miss Erma and wondering what all she thought about in the day to day.
I know that there was an AquaNet stain on the interior roof of my mother’s car. This is how women groomed in the 70s, and how Miss Erma worked her coif in the mid-90s. It had to have been exhausting: kind of like not having credit cards or rights.
But I applaud Miss Erma for her commitment to the hair. She watched all sorts of business from that chair, but she always had the can in arm’s reach.
We all do what we have to do.
