It’s no secret that the ongoing pandemic has left many people struggling financially. Some people have lost their jobs, others have had to take pay cuts, and there are even some who have lost their whole business. This has left people without money to pay their rent or bills, and this was the case for one salon worker. However, her life changed when a customer left behind a huge tip.

Opening Back Up

Due to lockdown measures and social distancing rules, hair salons across the world have had to close up shop. This was previously the case for Floyd’s 99 Barbershop at the University of Denver. However, at the end of May 2020, the salon opened up its doors once again, and hairstylist Ilisia Novotny made her way back to work.

Struggling to pay rent

Because the barbershop had been closed for two months, Ilisia had been struggling to pay her rent. Without work to do, the single mother had to talk to her landlord and her utility company to come to an arrangement so that she could keep a roof over her child’s head. She was happy to go back to work, but she couldn’t believe her eyes when she noticed the tip that one of her last customers of the day left her.

Not A Mistake

A walk-in customer had made their way into the hair salon, and Ilisia got to work as she normally would – thankfully for the business. When he walked out of the shop, though, he noted that “it’s not a mistake.” Ilisia was confused, until she realized that he had tipped her $2,500. Alongside this, he also left $500 for the receptionist, $1,000 for the manager, and $1,800 for the rest of the staff. The customer knew that times had been hard, so he wanted to give back.

It’s amazing to see people being so generous during uncertain times.

Thanks to countless stories, cartoons, and animated movies, many people grew up wondering what it might be like to become a mermaid or merman. Luckily for them, one of the largest world scuba diving training organizations is teaching the art of mermaiding to a whole new generation of freedivers. Although the techniques are difficult to learn, mermaiding is becoming a big trend in China!

Mermaid Diving Certifications

PADI or the Professional Association of Diving Instructors, is now offering four different certification levels of mermaid diving. This freediving technique involves the use of a rather heavy artificial tail that doesn’t allow the legs to move freely. Rather, the wearer must learn to rely on abdominal muscles and swim like a dolphin. The leading progenitor of mermaiding is the first Chinese woman to obtain a PADI’s Master freediving training certification – Dada Li.

The Art of Movement Comes to Light

Inspired by the movie “Splash” in the 1980s, Dada Li pursued her freediving dreams and created a professional freediving underwater performance team – the first of its kind. She explains that, due to the weight and nature of the prosthetic tail, it takes a lot of practice to make the movements elegant like a mermaid. As the first female freediving instructor in China, Li now holds the position of PADI ambassador.

Worldwide Standardized Mermaiding

Over the last decade, standardized training and certifications for mermaid diving have spread throughout the world. Corinna Davids from Scuba Schools International explains that their mermaiding programs are in over 3,000 diving schools worldwide and more than 1,000 instructors in China alone. She founded a performance diving team in China consisting only of part-time mermaids that commonly perform during water sport events, aquariums, and other venues. Offering people the option of becoming certified mermaids has increased the issuing of diving licenses by 40% in China alone in 2018! The trend is still picking up speed with no signs of slowing down!