Her mother, who worked full-time and was a university trained professional in Hungary, always put her pigtails up (twintails) high with white ribbons in a bow secured so tightly that it pulled on her hair. Her mother put a huge emphasis on having a neat and clear appearance. She even ironed the siblings' socks. The house was sparkling clean too, every morning the girls needed to clean their room too before they left home. Her hair had to be combed and neat for the day too, but it was done quickly during those hustling and bustling moments of the mother and her daughters getting ready for the day. She has developed a rash around her neck because of the constant pulling, and after a regular health check-up at the kindergarten, the nurse gave her mother the advice to either cut her hair short or to let it out for a few days so the skin gets better. Her mother did not want to hear the second option. The girl was begging all afternoon to keep her hair long. They arrived early at her mother’s hairdresser to get that haircut. They arrived early at her mother’s hairdresser to finish in time with the job. She dreaded to go to kindergarten that day. They arrived there with very short hair at the time of morning tea. The children were sitting around a very long table set with tablecloths, cups and plates eating their morning tea. The teacher sat at the left end looking at her as she stepped in the room. When the children saw her short hair they looked surprised, everybody turned towards her. As she sat down and started to eat, very quietly someone said ‘plucked chicken’ then slowly the murmuring spread around the table and the children were repeating the two words to her. She felt blushing and a warm feeling was rushing through her body. She has never had short hair before. All the girls had ponytails. As she sat there at the table trying to eat her morning tea, she held down her head, she did not dare to look at the others watching her.