She told me she had dropped something on it a while back and it was now growing out and not tender anymore. She also told me she'd been to a doctor for it and been cleared to have a pedicure. So now I have a reason for there being a spot on her toe. My big concern ... her feet and legs are so swollen there are indentions from her stockings and shoes. In a salon setting, if someone comes in with swelling like that you are supposed to send them away. If you massage someone's legs that are that swollen there is a chance you can cause a heart attack or stroke. I refused to have that kind of problem on my hands, so I grabbed a teacher that I knew would help me with the issue, the school's color specialist, named Mon, who is also very knowledgeable about manicures and pedicures as well. She checks out the woman's feet and legs and decides it isn't okay to go ahead with the pedicure.
Well the evil teacher, Vickie, happened to be in my section and decided to stick her big fat nose in the situation. She looks at the woman's feet and says she has a fungus just because there is a spot on the woman's toe. Although all of us try to explain to her that the woman dropped something on her toe causing a bruise (which would account for a dark spot on a toe), she continues to insist that it is fungus and then she has the nerve to say this in FRONT of the client "You can't believe the customers ... that is a fungus. She hasn't been to a doctor for it, people will lie just to be able to get a pedicure. We won't allow her back without a doctor's note." She then goes on to inform me that any dark spot on the toe black, brown, blue, green, yellow, or any other strange color is a fungus and should never be worked on. Now I would generally agree with that, but there is a major difference between a fungus and a damn bruise!
She then proceeds to talk down to me still in front of the client saying "You're about to finish and you still can't tell the difference between people you need to send away and the ones you can work on. You really need to pay attention to these things." Here's the deal ... over half of the women that walk into that school for manicures and pedicures should be turned away. When I grab a teacher (as per school policy) to inspect the issue most of them tell me to work on it, even when I know and feel that there is something wrong. There was another woman that came in with brown streaks and spots in her toenails. When I asked her if she knew where they came from she informed me that she had been to an Asian pedicurist and a few days later those spots and streaks showed up. That tells me she got an infection from their filthy instruments. So I grab a teacher the one who loves to tease us and talk crap (all in fun, not in cruelty), named Tav, to check it out, and she tells me there's nothing wrong and to work on it. I can feel from the woman's energy that there is something majorly wrong, but I've been cleared to work on the woman which means I have to do the pedicure. As a student I am not allowed to refuse a service on anyone. If I do, I face having to clock out and go home, losing valuable hours.
After the fiasco with the woman with the bruise I went to the back of the school, away from my section so I could hide from Vickie. The back of the school is Mon's section so I knew I would be safe. Mon asked me what was wrong and I told her that Vickie had just talked down to me in front of a client. Then I told her about Vickie calling the client a liar while the client was there. Vickie had also informed me that I could have worked on the woman despite the swelling if it hadn't been for the spot on her toe. Mon nearly hit the roof when she heard that. Again, we are NOT supposed to work on someone with that severe of swelling. Every time I turn around up there I have another damn contradiction to work with. Such as this: in Texas a nail technician isn't allowed to clip the cuticles on the toes because that is the toes only barrier against infection. That regulation has been around for quite a while. One of my fellow nail tech students had been clipping toe cuticles and it really bothered me. I inform Mon about that and she says she'll discuss it with the other girl.
Well, Mon was getting ready to go on vacation around the same time and it slipped her mind. So I think I'll just go to Vickie because she's such a stickler about regulations. I walk in and inform her about my concerns and she looks at me as if I've grown a second head. Her response: "I trim my cuticles at home, why wouldn't we be able to do it in the salon?" Well, I clear out my abcesses at home, but if a person comes in with an abcess on their toe I'm not going to clear it out in the salon ... that would be contaminating everything. Abcesses need to go to the doctor! Of course, I don't tell her that, I just say: "Well, it's my understanding that it is against regulation to do it in the salon." She says, "Well what does your book say about it?" My response: "I'm not sure what the book says about it, but it doesn't cover every state's regulations." She then decides to check the book and see what it says. The book says it's okay to clip the cuticles if necessary, but again it doesn't cover every state's regulations, and it also says to check with your state regulating service; however, Vickie okay's it and tells me to stay out of the other girl's business!
I ask you this ... how in the hell is a person supposed to get a good, well rounded education if every time they turn around each teacher is contradicting the other?! Mon tells us "Do not clip the toe cuticles, don't push them back with any metal implement," then Vickie tells us "Stay out of each other's business and just do things according to the text book." However, again, the text book always tells us to check with our state regulating service on certain things and Vickie doesn't even care enough to pay attention to regulations! Tav tells me to work on a woman with brown streaks and spots on her toes that are obviously some sort of infection, but Vickie yells at me for approving a bruise but turning away swelling that could cause a heart attack if massaged. I had attended a different school before I started at the one I'm at for the same thing, so I already knew most of the regulations and I constantly stay up to date with sanitation guidelines and so forth through my state regulating service, so I thankfully know right from wrong, but what about the other poor girls that go to school there? If the teachers can't be consistent with each other, exactly how is the student supposed to know what's right and what isn't?
Thankfully I'll be done next week. But since I've had such a horrible experience, I'm starting to consider opening my own school, specifically just for nail techs. Of course, I want to get some experience in the salon first. I'd be a major hypocrite if I just finished school, then turned around and decided I wanted to open a school. I need real life experience too. Anyway, that's my rant for today lol. I really do miss you guys though. Once I finish school and all my tests, I plan on taking a nice break from it all before I start working. I'll have more time to spend here in the blogosphere talking to my dear friends. I hope everyone's October is going great. I'm sad that I'm missing out on a lot of things going on. Now that I'm finished with the class work at school and I'm just collecting hours until I'm finished, maybe I'll have more time in the evenings to keep up with everything going on. Love, light, and blessings to everyone!
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