You fired her for helping a veteran. Shame on you. Kelly, a kind-hearted hair stylist, offered a free haircut to a struggling veteran. Her act of kindness cost her job— but it didn’t go unnoticed. Just 30 minutes later, an unexpected visitor arrived at the salon, changing Kelly’s life forever. Hi everyone, welcome to Tales Unveiled. Today I’m excited to share a new story with you. Let’s get started. Kelly was a young woman in her late 20s who worked for a beauty salon.
Unlike her peers who had high-flying jobs, Kelly settled for the career of a hair stylist because she had been obsessed with beauty and hair care since she was a child. Apart from wanting to be a hair stylist, Kelly also dreamed of someday owning her own hair salon. Even though her parents clearly pushed back against her choice of career, Kelly followed her heart and did what she had always wanted— not bothered by the smaller amount of money she made from her job.
When Kelly was 19 years old, her parents kicked her out of their house because she had refused to go to college and study the engineering course her father wanted her to study. Luckily for Kelly, weeks after being kicked out, she found a job at Mara’s Beauty Salon and worked there for 6 years. Kelly lived in a small town where everyone knew everybody, and news could spread like wildfire in hours. Since Mara’s Beauty Salon was one of the biggest hair salons in their town, more than 50% of the townspeople had their hair done or cut there.
Aside from Mara’s being one of the biggest salons, the townspeople loved to get their hair services there because of Kelly. Not only was Kelly passionate about her job, but she was also jovial, kind, and had a great sense of humor. Each time customers stepped into the beauty salon, Kelly ensured that they felt comfortable and gave them top-notch services. She knew all the names of her customers, and their children if they had any— and she always found a way to show the customers that she genuinely cared about them.
One day in the middle of summer, Kelly went to open the salon around 8:00 a.m. as usual. But that day she decided to make a quick stop at a street coffee stand before heading to the salon. At the coffee stand, Kelly bumped into Jason, who was passing by the shop. Jason was a man in his early 40s who had once served in the military. Almost everyone in town knew about Jason and how he was struggling to adapt to civilian life after years of serving in the military.
The whole town, including Kelly, also knew Jason’s story— how his wife divorced him shortly after he returned, and how Jason’s life spiraled down after his wife left him. Jason became depressed and—lost touch with many things. He could not keep a job or take care of himself. Most times, he depended on the townspeople to take care of him or assist him financially. Like every other day, Jason was dressed scruffy and his hair and beard were unkempt. “Hey Jason, how are you doing today?” Kelly asked in a very excited tone.
“Hi, hi Kelly, I’m fine. It’s great to see you again,” Jason responded. “Want some coffee?” Kelly asked. “Oh, I wouldn’t want to be a bother,” Jason responded. “Oh come on, we are friends Jason. Why would you be a bother?” Kelly chuckled, then turned to the coffee guy and told him to make another cup of coffee for Jason. Shortly after Kelly placed Jason’s order, his coffee was ready. The two of them grabbed their coffee and walked down to the salon, which was not too far from the coffee stand.
While they walked to the salon, Kelly and Jason talked about some regular things, and Kelly could tell that her small gesture of buying Jason coffee that morning definitely brightened up his mood. He sounded happier than when she met him, and he smiled more. As soon as they got to the salon’s front, Jason thanked Kelly again for the coffee and was about to bid her goodbye when Kelly said one more thing: “Jason, if you’re free later today, you could come to the salon and I’ll give you a haircut.
It’s on me,” Kelly said with a wide smile. “Oh no, you don’t have to. What you have done is already enough,” Jason said. “I insist, Jason. It’s on me. Come whenever you’re free, I’ll be waiting for you,” Kelly said. “Thank you so much Kelly, I’ll come later today,” Jason said before he walked away. After Kelly had opened the salon for the day, she could not stop thinking of Jason and how his life had suddenly changed. In his glory days, Jason was a man the whole town loved and looked up to as a hero, but things got terrible after he left the military.
Later that afternoon, Kelly had just finished attending to a customer when Jason showed up. As soon as she was done with the customer, she asked Jason to sit, wrapped a sonic strip around his neck, and draped the cape. Almost 10 minutes after Kelly began to cut Jason’s hair, her boss Mrs. Sydney—a woman in her early 40s—walked into the salon. Everyone in town knew Sydney to be a rude businesswoman who only cared about money and never about other people’s feelings.
At first, when Sydney saw Kelly attending to Jason, she didn’t say a word. Instead of entering her office, Sydney sat on one of the seats next to Jason, watching them. When Kelly was finally done cutting Jason’s hair and shaving his beard, Jason thanked Kelly wholeheartedly and was about to leave when Sydney asked for his money. “About his money, I wanted to tell you that you can take it out of my paycheck,” Kelly said quickly. “I wanted to give him a treat,” Kelly said.
“No, Kelly. I cannot allow that. I did not build my business to this level by giving free haircuts to people who cannot afford to pay for one,” Sydney said in an insulting tone. “No ma’am, I think you’re mistaken. Jason did not come here on his own. I invited him here so I could give him a haircut. I saw him earlier today and—” “I do not care if you saw him earlier today or 10 years ago! If Jason does not pay for the haircut he just had, then you’re fired!” Sydney yelled at Kelly.
“Please, it has not gotten to that, let me—” Jason tried to speak. “There will be no need for that, Jason. You can go ahead, I will join you shortly,” Kelly said. And with that, Jason reluctantly walked out of the salon. Immediately after Jason walked out, some of the townspeople who saw him noticed that he was unusually moody. So some people went to talk to him. “What is it, Jason? Is everything all right?” a woman asked. “No, everything is not all right.
The nice salon lady gave me a free haircut and her boss fired her for it,” Jason said in a sad and depressed tone. “You’re not being serious, right?” another man beside the woman asked. “I know Kelly, she’s a good girl. Why would her boss do something like that?” the woman asked. Just as Jason was trying to explain what had happened to the man and woman, other people walked over to him to find out what was happening. When Jason told the new group what had happened, they got furious.
Slowly, the news of Kelly being fired spread all around town like wildfire. Somehow, the news got to the mayor of the town, and when he heard that Kelly was being punished for her kindness, he decided to do something. While Kelly was still in the salon trying to clean up the hair on the floor before leaving, she had no idea Jason had told so many people. Thirty minutes after Jason left, the mayor walked inside with Jason—just as Kelly was about to take her bag and leave.
As soon as Sydney, Kelly’s boss, saw the mayor, she rushed to him and greeted him. Outside the salon, Kelly and Jason could see the number of people who flocked behind the mayor. “Welcome, Mr. Mayor! To what do we owe this pleasant surprise?” Sydney asked. But the mayor ignored her and turned to Kelly. “Hello, Kelly. Is it true that your boss fired you because you gave Mr. Jason here a free haircut?” the mayor asked. When the mayor asked, Kelly turned in her boss’s direction and saw Sydney shaking her head slowly— a sign that Kelly should lie.
But Kelly ignored her. “Yes, Mayor, that’s true. I was just about to leave before you walked into the salon,” Kelly answered. “For your kindness, Kelly the townspeople and I have decided to reward you with a little something. This is to show appreciation for your kindness and to encourage you to keep being a good person,” the mayor said as he handed Kelly a certificate of recognition and a big white envelope. Kelly’s joy was through the roof when she received the certificate and took a picture with the mayor.
When she saw how much money the mayor had gifted her, she couldn’t contain her joy. Thankfully, Kelly made a smart decision that changed her life forever. A few months later, she opened her own beauty salon with the money she received from the mayor. To show Kelly how supportive they were, all the townspeople stopped going to Mara’s Beauty Salon and only got their haircuts and braids from Kelly’s Salon. The overwhelming success of Kelly’s Salon led to an expansion— with a second branch opening its doors and her income continuing to flourish.
As for Sydney, she was forced to close her beauty salon after all her old customers stopped visiting her. She learned a lesson— but unfortunately, it was too late for her business to be saved. The true currency of life isn’t money. It’s kindness.
