You probaby haven’t forgotten that I broke my wrist. Actually, the doctor’s report uses the word “shattered.” *gulp* No wonder it hurts.

The orthopedist has me off work till the first of the year, a total of eight weeks. Aside from all my ranting about getting insurance and making sure you have a couple of months of expenses in a savings account somewhere (And yeah, I totally know how impossible that can be, but if it’s not impossible, do it!), during my newly found and reluctantly accepted downtime, I’ve had to refer my clients out to other nail techs.

So I gave all my clients the number of a local colleague who I know has not yet filled her schedule to overflowing, who does good nails, and has a personality I felt would be able to get along with my eclectic crew of miscreants.

Now I sit around and worry that all my comrade in arms is hearing is, “Maggie does this...” “Maggie does it this way...” “That’s not how Maggie does it...”

And all I’m going to hear when I’m back in the saddle is, “You know, she did this weird thing...” “I like the way you do ____ better.”

If you have ever referred your clients to another tech, or if you have ever filled in for another tech, you’ve been through this.

While I appreciate the loyalty, it gets annoying to hear people point out all the little differences between myself and another tech. Especially since it always seems to come down to one of those techs being “wrong.”

So far the clients I’ve had a chance to speak with have shown impressive maturity and gratitude. They’ve been sympathetic about my busted wrist and grateful that they’ve been able to get in with another nail tech who’s not trying to “steal” them away from me.

I really appreciate that. Of course, there’s always one bad apple, and I really do have to work hard not to laugh aloud at her. Her nails are on, they look nice, and no one has drilled through her cuticles — I don’t think she has anything to complain about. I appreciate her attempts to convince me that no one can take my place, but there just might be such a thing as too loyal. I just want to text her back and assure her that she need not fear, my stand-in won’t miss her either.

It is so awesome to have someone I can refer business to while I’m off work — regardless of whether or not one person is able to focus on being grateful instead worrying that I’ll think she’s betraying me.

Thank you, Suki. You’ve been awesome! (One bad apple notwithstanding.)