Posts by David Martinez72

wanderingbadger44, about the hair stylist thing...

Nah, I’m good. And honestly, I bet there are plenty of people out there who wouldn't dream of stepping foot in a salon where the stylist just goes ahead and bleaches someone's hair without a second thought. They'd just assume the pro ruined their hair, lacked skill, was being reckless, or had zero creative vision.
I'm one of those people who doesn't walk around thinking I've got all the answers just because I went to school for something
or assuming I know more than an actual expert. I can listen, weigh the options, and make a call at the end.
I actually really value a stylist who takes the time to give me advice—if they suggested something new for me, I'd be right back in their chair.
(Kind of like how I respect a doctor who turned down doing plastic surgery for a friend of mine😁. Sure, he lost that client, but he gained a reputation for integrity elsewhere)

My line of work is all about clients and what they want. I get what you're saying—it's tough to land clients, and you're always one bad move away from losing them. But I've never been able to go against my gut or do something I know isn't right. I respect what people want, and we can definitely find a middle ground, but the final result? That’s going to be my call (even if you're the one paying the bill). I just can't fight my own conscience.
I've lost some clients over it. They went somewhere cheaper, somewhere that just does exactly what they're told. Because I refuse to have someone ask "who did this?" and hear them mention "David Martinez72"
The ones who stuck around were happy, and they're the ones who refer me to new people. It just keeps spinning like that.

I’m jumping into this debate late, so I might be a bit behind, but honestly? The truth is probably somewhere in the middle.

I’m not even in the States right now, but man, our school system back home feels totally broken—the curriculum, the way they teach, how knowledge actually gets passed down... it's just messy. And don't even get me started on the "newly minted" parents who think they know everything. It's all over the place, too much noise, but zero substance at the end of the day.

In our current setup, we have this small exit exam, a GPA average, an average from three specific subjects, plus entrance exams. Personally, I think that works fine.
But now they’re adding this massive standardized test on top of the entrance exams. At least this way, we might stop seeing that old pattern where kids from those certain "special interest" schools—where everyone somehow magically gets straight A's—squeeze out the actual high achievers from the good prep schools. Not all high schools are created equal, you know? In the end, you realize three decent grades from one school mean way more than five easy A's from another.

I’m totally with the teachers when it comes to pushing back against those pushy parents. I can't even imagine being that type. Someone mentioned it earlier, and it's exactly how it works here—around mid-May, the final info goes out to parents, and that’s the end of the line.

This might sound weird, but I was actually kind of relieved when my kid got a C after a long string of A's. He was miserable, obviously, but I was thinking, "Aha! The teacher actually has standards!" That's how I know when he *does* get an A, he actually earned it.
Early on, I used to ask about the other kids' grades too—not because I care about them, but just to gauge the grading scale. If everyone is getting A's or everyone is failing, then you know the teacher's criteria are totally off.

Also, you deal with these teachers who just dump all their own moods and frustrations onto the students while barely doing their actual jobs properly.
If an entire class or the whole school has an issue with one specific teacher, then yeah, take it to the PTA or the principal and get it sorted. But trying to handle it one-on-one? That’s a losing game.

Back home in Canada, it wasn't even an option at first, then they eventually made it an elective, regardless of which period you had.
When parents started complaining about the scheduling, they had to move it to the first or last slot of the day.

Then the kids slowly started losing interest, mostly because they’d watch their friends heading home while they were stuck sitting there, reading through some incredibly tedious material...

In a move to basically protect jobs for "their people," they introduced this subject called "Society, Culture, and Religion," so you could pick your poison.

How many kids actually take it just depends on the specific school and the local demographics.

My kids are in the "Society..." class, and honestly, it's fine—they learn things like social etiquette and stuff like that.

Personally, being an atheist, I don't have anything against a "Religion" course if it's treated as general culture—just a way to learn about others, different perspectives, and embracing diversity—but even then, maybe only in the higher grades.

Is there any way I could swap my handle over to L. Gal
? There’s this one guy with a name almost identical to mine—we both hang out in the same threads and people constantly mix us up...
Thanks.

Just a period, like part of the initials. Something like Gala L.
Or maybe you could just go with L Gala, if that's actually available.

Just popped in here to see if I’m the only one noticing this, or if I’m just out here on my own island.
Turns out, I'm not. You guys aren't crazy.
Hey, nimbletinker10 and silverraven14—you two are spot on. I'm totally with you, assuming there's actually any point to all this anyway.