something i received.

(sort of an askpixie.)

From Bethany Taylor (bethanyXXXXXX@cox.XXX)
To: askpixie
Subject: commenting on your page!

"You do not seem like a very friendly person. If you have a ques./ answer
page maybe -you should actually look into properly answering the ques. and
not getting po'd that people ask you about something that you don't know
about. Get Educated!! and if you don't then take your little website off the
internent so people don't inconvenience you with ques. about things you have
no idea about!!!"

I'm not sure specifically what this email is in reference to, but I'm guessing it's either about how I respond to questions about Eyelash Extensions or Thermal Relaxing, which is the majority of what people ask questions about.

And if you read any of my askpixie answers on these topics, they always include a link to a page specifically tailored to answering those questions with everything I've already read/heard/been told and then shared, or at least resources to people that are better equipped to answer their queries.

Such as, from http://www.pixiemartin.com/eepixie.htm:

"What I know about eyelash extensions, eyelash glue, and the whole long eyelash craze in general:

"First off, I am not answering any more questions about eyelash extensions. If you wish to forward me more information on the subject, I will be more than happy to add it to this page.

"The actual function of askpixie is as an advice column for my website, www(dot)pixiemartin(dot)com, but a lot of people have made eyelash extension queries, and a lot of other people have answered them, so they all got an area of their own.

"What I can tell you is that I am a licensed cosmetologist, but I have never actually performed this procedure.

"I also don't do cosmetics or skincare services, but I do technically know some things about cosmetics and skincare, and could theoretically do them.

"I live in Chicago, and I have no idea where you can get eyelash extensions done anywhere, nor do I know about where you can get trained to do them or buy supplies, beyond the places that I'm listing here.

"And, everything I have personally learned about eyelash extensions online, beyond that which has been volunteered, has been gleaned from google searches, and shared with you here.

"It takes some time, but that's where the majority of the answers to people's questions come from, which means you do have the power to find this information for yourself.

"Basically, I don't know anything about this service at all. I'm only sharing what I've read or been told."

Or, from http://www.pixiemartin.com/trpixie.htm:

"What I know about japanese thermal reconditioning, thermal relaxing, and straightening in general:

First off, I am not answering any more questions about thermal reconditioning, thermal relaxing, or straightening.

Once upon a time, like in early 2002, there was almost no information about TR on the web, but now, there is a hell of a lot more informative stuff out there than what I have to offer. There are more salons doing this now than I could shake a stick at, and they all seem to have info about the service on their sites. Most of them even have areas where you can ask questions yourself.

The actual function of askpixie is as an advice column for my website, www(dot)pixiemartin(dot)com, but a lot of people made straightener-based queries, so they got an area of their own.

What I can tell you is that I am a licensed cosmetologist, but I have never actually performed this procedure.

I also don't do regular relaxers, but I do know how they work and could theoretically do them.

I live in Chicago, and have no idea where you can get this done anywhere but here, and then I don't really know all the places that do it here, either. I do know that most Ulta Salons do offer Rusk Thermal Str8, and that Carissima on Clark St. does Bio-Ionic.

And, everything I have learned about thermal reconditioning/relaxing/straightening beyond what has been shared with me by the helpful public has been gleaned from google searches.

It takes some time, but that's where the majority of the answers to people's questions come from, which means you do have the power to find this information for yourself.

And there are so many different brands and options out there, I can't even name them all... Shinbi International (Liscio), Yuko, Bio-Ionic, Magic Hair, & Rusk Thermal Str8 are just the ones I can think of off the top of my head.

Here is an actual hair-based advice site with a huge section dedicated to queries just like yours, but other information is offered up in the actual askpixie entries."

How dare I state that I am not equipped to answer a question on a topic that is something outside my realm of expertise, answer it to the best of my limited ability, and then provide resources for the person asking the question to actually find the answer for themselves?

I must be a total bitch!

I guess I should 1) Invest a few thousand dollars into taking classes in both of these topic areas. 2) Then lobby corporate, so that I can go about setting up the salon to provide these services. And when they say no, 3) quit my job at the salon where I am employed, consequently losing all of my benefits and security, to go 4) open my own salon, to the tune of a hell of a lot more than a few thousand dollars. And then once I 5) secure the financing for that venture, and have 6) adequately advertised, 7) staffed and 8) supplied my new salon, I should then 9) do these particular services on the eager public for a while to get practice, just so that I can 10) authoritatively answer questions that I have already provided ways to get answers for by people that are already in the know.

Of course, after the aeon that it would have taken me to achieve these ten steps to successfully helping answer the public's queries had actually passed, I certainly wouldn't have the time to answer any of them anyway. I would be either in debtor's prison, hiding out from a loan shark in the interest of keeping my life and limbs intact, or else just plain be too busy running my successful salon to play around on the internet with idiots like you.

You know, you might actually be right about me not being a very nice person.

Thank you for that insight into my being.

Maybe that's something I'll put my energy into working on in the new year.