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Free Haircuts on a Red Chair
Last summer, Katie Steller was on her way to work. She stopped at a traffic light, where a man, in his 60s,looking out of luck, was sitting alone. She rolled down her window.
“Hey!” she shouted.“ I’m driving around giving free haircuts. Do you want one right now?”
The man, missing a few teeth, paused and laughed. “Actually,” he said, “I have a funeral(葬礼)to go to this week. I was really hoping to get a haircut.”
Then, Steller unloaded a red chair from the car. The man, named Edward, took a seat. As Steller was cutting his curly graying hair, he told her about growing up in Mississippi, about moving to Minnesota, and how he still talked to his mom over phone every day.
To date, Steller has given 30 or so such haircuts to people around the city. They are all living on the margins, and she is aware of the power of her work.
“It’s more than a haircut,” she says. “I want it to be a gateway, to show value and respect, but also to get to know people.”
Steller knows that a haircut can change a life. One changed hers. As a teen, she suffered from ulcerative colitis(溃疡性结肠炎) that was so serious, her hair thinned severely. Seeing this, her mother arranged for Steller’s first professional haircut.
“To sit down and have somebody look at me and talk to me like a person and not just an illness, it helped me feel cared about and less alone,” she says.
After that, Steller knew she wanted to have her own hair salon so she could help people feel the way she’d felt that day. Not long after finishing cosmetology school(美容学校)in 2016,she realized her dream. Two years later, she began what she now calls her Red Chair Project, reaching out to people on the streets.
Steller said, “I can’t fix their problems, but maybe I can help them feel less alone for a moment.”Steller listens to people’s stories of loss, addiction, and struggle to get back on their feet.
An offshoot of the Red Chair Project is the Steller Kindness Project, in which people who commit acts of kindness are invited for a free makeover(美容)at Steller’s salon. In exchange, they tell their stories, which Steller shares on her website. Her hope is that by reading about kind acts, others will be inspired to do their own.
So far, it’s working. “You have no idea what people are going to do with the kindness that you give to them,” says Steller.
21. Edward agreed to have a haircut by Steller because________.
A. he wanted to talk with Steller about his life
B. he wanted to look good for a special occasion
C. he was too old to go to a hair salon by himself
D. he was just waiting for a free haircut on the street
22. What made Steller want to set up her own salon?
A. Her excellent haircut skills.
B. Her mother’s encouragement.
C. Her experience of a formal haircut.
D. Her dream to offer people free haircuts.
23. What’s the purpose of Steller Kindness Project?
A. To make contributions to charity.
B. To encourage people to spread kindness.
C. To reward kind people with free makeovers.
D. To collect moving stories for Steller’s website.
