Oh man - that's what I'd call a well intentioned, but totally innappropriate blunder. She probably meant well and wanted to do something nice for you, and may have been thinking along the lines of "I like getting my hair cut, probably jbug would too." I'm sure no insult was intended.

But you still have every right to be upset. Your feelings are your feelings, and some gifts are simply never appropriate, unless you know the person really well or they've expressed an interest.

I had a similar reaction once, when i got an email at work asking if I'd like to join a weightwatchers at work meeting. I'm sure the person sending it was just trying to rustle up enough members for a meeting and thought I might be interested, but my reaction was how dare you tell me I need to lose weight.

If it were me, next time I saw her, I'd give the gift certificate back and say something like "I appreciate the thought, but I actually like the way my hair is now."

--splitimage