In the winter of 1987 I visited the Bahamas from Miami with my friend Susan Huppler. I saw these local Bahamian Black ladies on the beach braiding and beading tourist's hair. I was intrigued as I had never had beads in my hair and I was on vacation. I asked how much it cost and she said $2.00, but for me they would give me a discout of $1.00. So I sat down the the kind lady started brading and beading my hair. I was thinking how hard it was for these locals to make a living, by working for so little. I, being the generous American I am, decided I would give her a nice big tip when she was finished. After she had completed about 25 braids another customer sat down next to me. This new customer asked the price and my braider said $2.00 per braid. ...PER BRAID... my mind exploded. I had thought the whole job was costing me $1.00 and it turns out it was $1.00 PER BRAID. I quickly realized that I already owed her $25 and she wasn't finished. I felt like the complete jerk and told her "Last Braid". So she put all of my remaining hair in one last braid. Needless to say when I paid her the $25 I owed her, I didn't give her a tip.

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