Get The Hell Off Of Your Cell Phone !

Woman Assaulted For Talking On A Cell Phone While Getting Her Hair Done
by Lisa Godley, WTKR, Norfolk,Virginia

Nov 30, 2006 08:31 PM

A hair appointment over the Thanksgiving holiday forces a Newport News woman to seek medical attention.

Latosha Grant says she was assaulted by a worker at a Hampton salon after a fight over a cell phone. Scarlette Grant was devastated when her 23-year-old daughter returned home from the hair salon last Friday night with a swollen eye and lip.

Instead of a "new do" for her trip back to South Carolina, Latosha Grant received a fractured eye socket, busted lip and numbness to the right side of her face.

"This is just unacceptable!," Scarlette Grant said regarding her daughters injuries.

Latosha Grant tells Your NewsChannel three that she asked her cousin to schedule her appointment at Ambiance Hair and Nail Gallery on Orcutt Avenue in Hampton. She says an argument sparked over a cell phone call.

"The lady who was not doing my hair came up to me and took my phone and walked away and told the person I was talking to, she'll be right with you and put the phone down and I said, excuse me, that's my phone!'"

Grant says there was no confrontation at that point, because she left the salon to use an ATM to get cash to pay her stylist. But she says after she returned and paid her stylist, she addressed the woman who took her phone.

"On my way out, I said don't ever take my phone from me, cause I pay the bill on this phone. So she got mad and started ranting and raging, words were exchanged."

But Grant says it didn't stop there. She says when she left the salon with her cousin, the woman followed her to the parking lot.

"She opens the door and she says, 'I just wanted to talk to you' and before I knew it she'd hit me in my mouth and then she pulled me out of the car, I don't know how I got on the ground, but my cousin said she slammed me on the ground."

Grant says the woman then punched her in the eye, knocking her glasses off and causing her eye to swell. Now because of her injuries, she can't drive back to her job in South Carolina. Workers at Ambiance declined our request for an on-camera interview. The woman accused would only say Grant hit her first. As for Grant, she's seen the doctor several times and has more appointments scheduled.

"They could have asked me nicely, 'Could you please remove the phone?, I'm trying to finish up'. No one ever said that to me!" Grant said.

The worker accused of assaulting Grant said she'll tell her side in court. That court date is set for December 20th.

Yes, the employee should have started out asking nicely for the client to turn off her phone and stow it.

Yet… I believe Ms Manners would suggest that the time to "get all up in the grill" of the employee would have been immediately after the phone was snatched way.

Delaying it in order to get one's hair done properly leads to a discussion with the manager later. It should not lead to fisticuffs.

And yes, I firmly believe the customer threw the first punch. Call it a hunch.