I've been looking for a new car. I've test-driven a couple, but mostly so far it's just been looking. My vehicle has definitely seen better days - it got schmucked in a hotel parking lot last year, and my son added a couple of dings of his own when he started driving last year as well. Now my daughter has her beginner's license so I'm torn between getting a new car and waiting until she gets the "dings" out of her system.

Last weekend I was at the Mazda dealership to see what they have to offer. I took a car out and then sat with the salesman to get an idea of how much it would end up costing me. He started telling me the different colours it comes in and I interrupted him to say, no I would want the same colour as the one on the lot - Black Cherry - it goes with my hair. He looked at me for a second unsure of whether I was trying to be funny or having a "blonde" moment. It really is a cool colour, the car I mean.

I am not a natural redhead. I know, this is shocking! I was told once that my hair is the colour of Cherry Coca Cola - by a guy who bought me a drink in an Iowa airport - long story. But since he'd mentioned it, and we had time to kill before our respective flights, I told him the story of how I became a redhead.

A few years ago I worked with two fabulous women who also became my friends. The company was going through some growing pains and we were on our third CEO. I could spend some time describing him but in a nutshell, if you've ever watched the show The Office, that pretty much covers it. He was a Brit. He was also a chauvinist of a degree I've seldom seen before or since.
Shortly after he started, he hired his girlfriend as our Marketing Manager. This might have only ruffled a few feathers if she had any experience whatsoever in marketing, but she did not. Her emails became legendary for their spelling mistakes and poor grammar. She was nice enough, and an attractive red head - she just didn't belong in that job.

To make matters worse, she was promoted a couple of times over others in the company who not only had seniority, but were eminently more qualified. The second of these promotions was announced when the woman in question was away at a conference and my friend Anne, who was in HR, was furious. She went in to give the CEO a piece of her mind. Voices were raised and Anne's parting shot as she left his office was "I guess the only way to get promoted around here is to be a redhead!". She was shaking when she came by my office to tell me about it, convinced that she would be fired for her outburst. Her and I, and our manager went out for drinks after work and developed a plan. I'm not saying it was a good plan, but it was a plan. Anne felt that if she was going to get fired, she might as well go out in a blaze of defiance, if not glory. She was going to go home and dye her hair bright red!

In a show of solidarity, Lori and I promised to do the same. The next morning we were all working diligently in our offices when the CEO did his usual morning "rounds" with his coffee cup. He saw Anne first and almost spewed his coffee across the room. Before he could say anything to her, I walked out of my office and said good morning as if nothing was going on, and then Lori did the same. He just stared at the three of us as his eyes narrowed, then he continued on his rounds. As he walked away he muttered "None of you are funny you know".

Nothing was ever said about our hair -at least not by him. Although on more than one occasion after that I heard him refer to the three of us as The Coven. Lori had only put a temporary rinse in her hair so it washed out before too long, and Anne eventually went back to being a blonde. I on the other hand, decided I liked being a redhead. : )