Just My Opinion Let’s Focus on the Issue-Not the Words

This past weekend while attending the Premiere Beauty Show. In Orlando, Fla, more than 50 of the online techs gathered. We roomed together, went to classes and booths together, and generally spent most of the weekend together. The topic of “chop shops”, always a hot one online, was brought up more than once over the weekend. Diana Bonn, during an all-right pajama party attended by many of the techs, came up with a very viable alternative wording for this type of salon—and one that is very politically correct: Non-Standard Salons or NS Salons.

The new wording will reference this type of salon without discriminating against any particular person or ethnic group. Discussion of this type of shop usually ends up as somewhat nasty and hateful posts on the mailing list and the message boards at Beauty Tech. All of the energy of these posts is placed on all of us disagreeing and arguing on what to call these salons. Instead, we should be putting our energy into educating these salons and people.

Hopefully, when we say the words Non-Standard Salon or NS salon, someone will pay attention to the problem instead of the words used. We strongly urge you all to use the same wording, and to take our profession to the level that we all strive for. As Diana stated, this one single topic has started more than any other topic. I think this may be the single most important step we, as a whole, can take to improve our industry and ultimately our own lives and businesses.

Debbie Doerrlamm is the webmaster of Beauty Techcom and NAILS’ online correspondent. Diana Bonn is a nail technician and the owner of Color Classiques in Muncie, Inc.