Open Letter To Ignorant Woman Next To Me At A Rockford Nail Salon

A relaxing spa day took an unexpecting turn at a Rockford nail salon after a woman had the audacity to disrespect her nail tech.

Over the weekend, I decided to treat myself to a day of pampering and get my nails done.  I never spoil myself, so I was really excited to have a day all to myself!  That meant booking an appointment with Lush Nail Bar over on Perryville in Rockford.

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Everything really does happen for a reason, especially in my life.  I am a huge believer in "right place, right time" after encountering this very unpleasant woman getting a manicure next to me at Lush Nail Bar.

NORMALIZE CALLING PEOPLE OUT WHEN THEY DESERVE IT.

It wasn't more than ten minutes into my manicure when another client sat down next to me for hers.  My gut was telling me she was about to be a difficult client and sure enough... always trust your gut.

The woman's nail tech was briefly talking to the receptionist in, what I believe was, Vietnamese and then continued to work on the woman's nails.  The brief conversation prompted the woman to say, "It is very rude and disrespectful to speak a different language in front of someone who only knows English" and proceeded to say, "I say the same thing to the Indian people when I go to their Indian restaurant."

This did NOT sit right with me, so I told her off.  I'm biracial and both my parents are bilingual, so I will never allow someone to degrade or disrespect people because they've willingly, and successfully, learned another language.

Of course I didn't say everything I wanted to in the moment, so here's what else I would've loved to say if there were fewer people in the nail salon.

Related: Open Letter To The Heartbroken Guy At A Rockford Walgreens

Open Letter To The Ignorant Woman Next To Me At A Rockford Nail Salon

Nobody is obligated to cater to you and your self entitlement.  You might be paying someone to do a service for you, but you do not have the right to control what language they speak.

If you know, prior to going into an establishment, that there will be different languages being spoken and you're not comfortable with that, I have a great solution: don't frequent those places, ever.

You're scared, intimidated, or feel overwhelmed when someone speaks a different language in front of you? That is nobody else's problem but your own.  Sorry you only know one language!  Maybe stop being so ignorant, prejudice, and racist toward people of other backgrounds and you wouldn't feel like people are talking about you - just a thought.

Just an FYI: they have better things to do, like finish the service you paid for.

Also, I took my story to TikTok and someone had a mic-dropping comment: "If you do not want to experience languages from other lands, you also surrender the food, textiles, music, etc. enjoy your bland colorless day, Karen!" PERIOD!

With how old she was, I wouldn't call her Karen... more like Margaret or Agnes.