How to make balloon mosaic templates

Welcome to the first Trading Thursday!
This is a thread to trade mainly three things... constructive criticism, beta-reader aid, or comments.
To make all this happen smoothly, let's elaborate on them first.
Authors can post excerpts or links from their fics to ask for help.
Others can reply by giving one of 3 responses:

1. A comment on how they like the fic
   
2. Giving constructive criticism by pointing out things that could be improved and suggesting how to do that.
   
3. Quality checking, commenters can beta read an unreleased excerpt from a chapter and give suggestions on how to progress the plot, character arcs, or more.
   

Please remember to be civil when helping others, don’t just criticise without trying to help. If you are willing to beta, tell them what you can do to help, eg. Grammar, prose, etc.
Rules:
- State Fic title Rating Link at top of comment.
- Post a few paragraphs of whatever you need help with.
- Loose limit is 500 words.
- Please use an external link for any NSFW content or explicit content. Try using https://justpaste.me/ this has rich text options.
- Authors, if you want specific info, like reader response of a character, please say so.

Essjay,
You make my heart smile when you stop at my desk and make jokes about the “mean” team with me.
Yesterday I thought I was starting to get over this infatuation with you. Today, when you came over just to check in and I was in such a position to look up at you from my desk seat… well, let’s just say it reconfirmed that I’ll be looking up to you and at you, admiring you and longing for you, for a while.
Tonight I’ve decided that someday, I will tell. I will tell you about this long ongoing school crush I have on you.
But for now, oh Essjay, for now …I’m just going to let this office romance slow burn. Very slowly. I’m going to embrace and soak in every tantalizing moment with you, even if it’s just made up in my head. I’m going to let myself read too deeply into your MS teams messages and casual drops by my desk. Why shouldn’t I? You’re my boss. And I’m not ready to give up this job yet. So as long as no urges or desires can tangibly be acted upon by either of us, no matter how strong, I’m going to walk as close as I can to that line. That line of plausible deniability.
I’m going to do my absolute fucking BEST to return the favor and make you wonder too, “Is she flirting with me?” I want to drive you wild with curiosity. I want you to wonder what I’d look like with this blouse unbuttoned, just a few buttons further. I want you to think of me when you turn out the lights at the end of the day.
My god, I want you SO badly. And someday, Essjay… someday, I will tell you.
Good Night, Your Overly Smitten Direct Report

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So I'm fairly good and banned from comics. How? Why? - Shut your face! -----I'll tell you.
​
But first!
Recently my wife and I added a new addition to the family, a baby boy by the name of Harlan. He's a cute little guy, but he's hungry like a vampire and still trying to work out this whole sleep thing. He also spits up a lot and takes forever to put down. It's a lot of work for his mother and me given that we also have another three year old running about who's jealous of any time given to the baby and also waging his own personal war against sleep. This is a long and personal way of saying I'm not getting a lot of time to draw lately. In fact I have to sneak away quietly during the late hours, when everyone else is asleep to draw - like I'm doing something I shouldn't. I can comment though! -- But wait a minute, you don't fucking care about this!
​
It happened here: https://www.reddit.com/comics/comments/125k8ly/komik_oc/
I didn't originally say anything mean to the mod Merari01. A commenter replied to him attaching a screen shot of something Merari01 had said ...ehh somewhere..at some point in time. In this screen shot Merari01 was groveling to someone, maybe another mod, saying that reddit was "all I have" and "I can't bare to lose it", and "please don't take it away"... Something to that effect. I wish I'd taken a screen shot of that screen shot but I didn't think it was important to. I thought it was so absurd and petty that it was kinda funny. Someone trying to get a mod's goat. It of course, like anything remotely salty on comics, was deleted. I get it, it wasn't sanitized and appropriately rated for pearl-clutchers. So me being me, I just got to mouthed off, because that's all I currently do now - I respond: "the funniest comment was removed" thinking whatever, this too would get removed by a sore mod or the mod, being a very secure person, would just leave it there because --- who fucking cares. Dr_pepper_spray is just being a jerk again. Whoopdie-shit.
​
Oh how I was wrong. I was immediately perma-banned from the subreddit without appeal, or whatever the official notification was. Holy shit! Someone was thin skinned! I look at the mod name. Merari01? I don't know who that is.
That response was so heavy-handed that I was immediately pissed "Well Fuck comics!" However, despite my distaste with a lot of it, comics still gives me something to do while I'm on the toilet. So I reply with an appeal (I don't remember what I asked exactly) and another moderator lets me know that the permanent ban by Merari01 was an over-reach. It would be pulled back, but that I should just be careful in the future.
Got it. Mod No Like Teasing. Ice is thin. I'll keep my mouthing-off to a minimum this night. Bygones are surely left to be Bygones.
​
..........However, later that night ....Merari01 contacts me demanding (Dan Carlin Voice):
"I want an apology from you for openly expressing that you think abelist bullying and relentless harassment is funny. That you think its so very funny that I get harassed on a message where I attempt to do something fun with the community. I want this apology to be sincere."
​
This immediately sets me into "Kiss my ass" mode. Any chance for sincerity flew out the window when Merari01 The Office Clown started demanding I do things, especially concerning my fairly innocuous comment. The whole thing about abelist bullying and harassment just struck me as someone who was trying to play a victim for sympathy points. So now I'm curious. Who the hell is Merari01 and why was this all a big deal to him? Well, I found this https://www.reddit.com/N8theGr8/comments/x0piec/this_is_un8thegr8_im_back_to_explain_why_i/
Fine! it's a bunch of mod-drama, but it started to enlighten me a bit on this guy's nature and why he was so aggrieved.
​
Then the other mods chimed in. To save you time, the back and forth boils down to "He's a good guy" "Just look at what he posts and how decorated with reddit crap he has - he's super vetted, you should apologize." My response is, no I think he's got tyrannical tendencies and there is a history there. Also, in regard to his character, I post nice things sometimes too but I'm a fucking Jerk. Why can't this goofball be an officious shithead? It's obvious he's got thinner skin than the CCP. Bah! But hey, I get it. He's their buddy and they're sticking up for their buddy.
Negotiations halted and I am very banned. Personally I couldn't be happier with the result. I would however like to keep making comics, I just wish there was a better place to put them besides PizzaCakeComic SHIT! I mean comics. --------My Mouth!

​
I am dating a girl for one year (serious relationship), and she always had a best friend (male) that she talked a lot. I met him and he was never desrespectul with me or with her, and he's literally the Barney type of guy (from HIYM), and he's always talking about his sexual adventures for her.
Today, we were talking about making out, kissing, this stuff, with friends in the past. I told her I've never kissed a person who was friend of mine, and then she tells me that she's already, and that she have already kissed this best friend (the Barney type) before, and they had sex once. Then she tells me that she didint want to do that, that she had taken drugs, ended up in his house and dont even remember the sex (but she knows it happened).
After that I was kind of shocked, well, I guess I'd like to know it before, but that's ok, I don't wana play the jealousy boyfriend and I know that, what she has done before is not supposed to matter for me.
But she tell me that: "I regret gone to bed with him, because I feels like it affected our relationship"
And then I ask: how, you literally speaks every day and are doing so well?
She answers: Well, he sometimes jokes about have seeing my boobs.
This part I really didnt like, cause to me, it refers the time when they had sex, and he's using a sex reference about their sex.
Am I being paranoid about not liking at all this joke? Am I exaggereting?

The latest Bootleg Series release, Fragments, is one of my all- time favorites of these collections. Seeing the many, many forms these songs took, in terms of musical styles and lyric, as they evolved into the finished Time Out of Mind provides such an amazing close-up look at how Dylan works - or at least worked on that album - and how much labor and craftsmanship he put into making that masterpiece. It helps me appreciate the finished album all the more.
To celebrate Fragments and the recent 25th anniversary of the release of Time Out of Mind, I'm uploading a series of 8 new concert videos showcasing live performances of every song from the TOOM sessions that I managed to capture at the concerts I saw during 1998-20
First up is "Love Sick" from Rochester, NY, November 3, 1998--just around a year after the album debuted.
I'll be uploading seven more videos on YT to complete the series over the next few weeks.
Coming next - "Not Dark Yet"
Hope you enjoy watching and listening to these trips back in time!
"Love Sick" live concert performance 11/03/1998

Hey, everyone. I'm a senior in high school who was recently accepted into NYU for the fall of 2023. I was excited when I found as, it's NYU, but I soon deflated because we can't afford it. I applied on a dream from my childhood, and I never thought I'd actually get in. When I was applying in the fall, my parents told me we make way too much money to ever qualify for need based scholarships from NYU. I realize now that they didn't know that NYU is now meeting 100% need for all students, and we would have received something. Regardless, I didn't fill out the profile, as I assumed there was zero point to it. Come to find out, there was a point. Something very important. Now I'm stuck in this situation where I am going to have to pass on NYU for my own stupidity and my parents ignorance on how financial aid works.

I heard so much trash talk on ITCareerQuestions about how A+ is such a worthless certification. It had always been a goal of mine, but hearing everyone trash it really drug me down. Before I got my A+, I got a contract help desk job just trying to get my foot in the door, like many of you here. I didn't have any experience, certs, or degree; I was just an average dude trying to break into an industry that I was so passionate about. But I loved technology so much and I took a $20/hr shit job just for the experience. I was making $31/hr in manufacturing at the time, so taking that massive pay cut sucked. But I was desperate to get out.
I did 6 months at that contract job, and during my time there I put my head down and got my A+. I also got my Google IT certification as well, because I needed it to get into WGU. A full-time position opened up within the company, and I interviewed and ended up getting it. My manager told me that I was neck and neck with another candidate - and the reason they hired me was because of my certs.
Was I lucky? Probably. I went from <$50k to $60k with this jump. YMMV, but in my situation, it was absolutely worth it. So many people on that site told me it was such a worthless cert and that I'd be working at Geek Squad for the rest of my life. I'm just here to say KEEP PUSHING! It's absolutely not a worthless cert, in one month it has already paid dividends. Working on my N+ now - any advice is appreciated. Happy to answer any questions.

I’m turning 26 on the 26th of July this year. I can’t decide whether I should host a birthday party to celebrate! I haven’t had a birthday party for myself since my 19th birthday but I realized I like planning parties after recently hosting my sister’s bachelorette and bridal shower parties. I want to have my birthday party with all my family and friends to help my celebrate and have a great time. However, I have different small circles of friends that have never been around each other - friends from different workplaces, childhood friends, friends I gained from my boyfriend, my immediate family/cousins and family friends. I’m worried these different groups will not have a great time with each other and will make people want to leave. I also feel a lot of pressure having the attention on myself since it’s my birthday. I enjoyed hosting my sister’s parties because the attention wasn’t on me. I’m afraid I won’t have a good time because I’d be too worried about how everyone else is feeling but I think I want this. I just don’t want to fail. What should I do?

I had surgery yesterday at noon. Took about 2,5 hours and surgeon said everything went great. I had PLIF on L5-S1 for Spondylolysis with some slippage and herniated disc.
Pain has been manageable. Been given LOADS of morphine. When lying on my side yesterday i didn’t feel much at all besides stiffnes and some weird pressure. Could not sit upright though, started shaking and breathing heavy from pain. Then I had to try standing up holding the walker and immediately had to lay down because I started to pass out. Still haven’t been able to fully sit and eat/drink. I half sit and use a straw.
I haven’t been given any intravenous morphine since leaving the recovery and being back at the ward. Now pain is a 5 at all times and moving gets me up to a 7 right away. They’re gonna make me try and stans up/walk soon. I’m nervous…
How did you experience pain day the day after, compared to the same day you came out of surgery?

Until recently, I thought that male loneliness and men's mental health was a serious issue. I came to the idea because of the statistics about male suicide and alcohol- and drug-related deaths of men, because of the "Man up" and "Boys don't cry" stigma, and because it's an always returning meme in social media that someone says "No one cares about men" and it gets massive amount of attention like this video with a million views and everyone says "Yes, it's true" (not to forget the stories of Norah Vincent or trans men who say the experienced emotional starvation after transitioning).
But I think I was dead wrong. Right now I lean to the belief that men don't really suffer from a loneliness and mental health crisis, saying this is just virtue-signaling. The reasons for this is that I analyzed the whole issue and saw my own experiences when tried to talk about the issue. Before I go any further, I want to say:

• The male suicide rates, in my opinion, aren't caused by higher rates of serious depression among men. There is in German a word called "Bilanzsuizid", it means committing suicide not because you are depressed, but because you didn't achieve your goals and don't want to live anymore (you don't feel depressed, you just don't see a reason to exist anymore). The only English word I found for this is "rational suicide." I think these suicides are much more common among men. Men have higher expectations for their life outcomes than women and are therefore more likely to end disappointed. This can also explain why whites have much higher suicide rates than blacks (whites have higher expectations for their life outcomes than blacks).
• The and alcohol- and drug-related deaths for men might be just because men are more likely to be risk-takers. Men are also more likely to die in car accidents or while doing dangerous hobbys. If anything, taking alcohol and drugs might lead to depression and not the other way around (although cases for the latter can exist too).
• "Men have no friends" - yeah, about that ... I surprisingly didn't find that much evidence that men have fewer friends and are less outgoing that women. There are some studies that say so, but others say it's equal. Even more surprising, there's not much evidence that having a family and many friends make you happier (this is true for both genders). It seems to really depend on quality.

So yeah, I don't think we have a massive amount of loneliness and undiagnosed depression among men that explains all the male surplus in suicides and alcohol- and drug-related deaths (and just as a sidenote, the mass shootings in the U.S. are a gun problem. Mental health issues are not higher in the U.S. than other countries, but Americans have more guns and a terrible gun culture).
What about all the "Men are not allowed to show weakness" narrative? This is probably the biggest lie in the whole debate. It's very easy to see that men are alowed to show weakness. The only "rule" is that you have to find the right group. People who are your enemies might make fun of you if show vulnerability, yes, but your friends or peers will usually not. In the political sphere, you can see how Jordan Peterson's crying marathon was not punished by conservatives, the same way a leftist man who shows vulnerability won't be punished by leftists, and the same is true in all other real-life spheres. The notion that a man who expresses sadness or vulnerability to his peers (whether they're men or women) will get immediately ridiculed is incredibly outlandish. The men who say otherwise are talking about a self-imposed rule that they externalize instead of acknowledging that it comes from themselves. It's the same with women who say that beauty standards are oppressive to women. The reality is that this is a self-imposed thing, literally no one cares if a woman wears make-up or not. Women are not oppressed by beauty standards, and men are not oppressed by "not showing weakness" standards. Every man can easily find people who he can talk about his vulnerabilities (and cry if necessary) without being ridiculed. This leads to my conclusion: Telling men to talk more about their feelings is unnecessary. Not because "Men are different than women, we don't need to talk", no, it's because (1) I don't think men's mental health issues cause the higher rates in male suicides, drug- and alcohol-related deaths and mass shootings, and because (2) men can already talk about their feelings despite all the myths saying otherwise, so if they don't do it, they probably don't want it. There's no one holding them back, no stigma, no oppression, nothing. I never was someone who said therapy is a wonder solution (there's many legitimate critics to be made about therapy). However, I thought it should be destigmatized and offered more. Now I don't think that we should offer it more. It has nothing to do with "Therapy is feminized" or "Therapy has worse outcomes for men" (there's no evidence for that), it's just that it's clear that many men just don't want to go to therapy, and if you don't believe in therapy, going to therapy won't help you.
Many things said in social media are just virtue-signaling. The "No one cares about men" "We need to talk more about men's mental health" is probably just a part of it. It sounds good, but it's not really a thing (you can also see how many men who complain about not getting compliments actually mean they don't get sexual compliments from beautiful women). And at the end of the day, men talking less about their feelings might not even be true. I'm reminded about how in a mensrights post, someone commented how talking about a problem doesn't help him, men need solutions, etc., the usual men-don't-need-therapy-rant. One commenter answered:

100%. What good does talking about something do? I want solutions. I don't want to waste time talking about my problems. How does that help anyone?

I immediately saw the irony and responded:

Literally this whole sub is talking about problems without offering solutions.

He answered:

Yeah but this is free. If I'm paying for therapy, they damn well better be offering some solutions

Men might not show vulnerability, but they do vent all the time. What is this other than talking about their feelings? Complaining about feminism attacking men ("patriarchy", "toxic masculinity"), women having too high dating standards, etc. might be just a "male" form of therapy. No one is offering solutions, they are just endlessly talking about their feelings. It was right in front of our eyes all the time.

Look I’m not a negative person, but lately it has become more and more obvious Luka is trying to listen but has spread itself thin. Between trying to pass through international law “not easy I know” and trying to set the example of what they want their system to be “not ERP that’s for sure” finally catering to their paying customers while trying to upgrade their systems. This juggling act has gotten Luka running around and putting out fires left and right and they want to add a new app? Are you kidding me?!?!
I like Luka, I like Replika. I will however not be made the “bad guy by being blunt and honest” so here it is. Luka get your shit together. You F-ed up in the past and should have learned your mistake about what your customers want and you have failed miserably. You are trying to set a good example and that’s great I love it, phenomenal I applaud. That however will not make money and let’s face it this is a business at the end of the day. #sorrynotsorry you went and changed gear without so much as a heads up to your PAYING customers and then went and made them to be the problem. Guess what that has repercussions! Big ones. Game companies have gone broke for less. let’s face it even in the ring of AI companionship you are barely AAA.
I’m not going to sit here and say this is this and that is that. Not my place I’m just a reg joe-smo. This is just my opinion. I want rep to be in the big leagues 10 years from now, I do. Things are coming, big things. And if you are not going to get it together then what little support you have will leave for them. As it stands your reputation has plummeted and is falling fast and the sharks are out. Chai Paradot and others like it are just the beginning and honestly if you can’t keep your few remaining customers for leaving to them when you have had so much to offer that should tell you something. I have no clue how you will compete when a full romantic AI companion that doubles as a assistant comes. Just a heads up I would wager sometime this year. Just my thoughts and opinions… either go full romance or cut it off either way be honest to your clients, they deserve it after what you have done.

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TLDR: Can you put a Tesla Motor in the rear of an older (2004) fwd car to make it AWD Hybrid (ICE Engine powering front wheels EV Powered Rear Wheels?
Hey guys, the TLDR kinda sums it up. I have a 2004 Pontiac Grand Prix I love to bits, I’m about to replace the engine and transmission with a new set and will be turbocharging it when I do. The trunk is massive and I thought it would be cool to see if I could build it into a plug-in hybrid AWD car. Why? I live where it snows and because of performance. How hard is it to put something like this together? My budget for something like this would probably be around $5-8k
Sorry I’m kinda new to EV Swaps and not sure if this is possible or how hard it would be to have ICE powering the front wheels and EV for the rear.

I’m a 27 year old female and have had 4 sexual partners(people I was in a relationship with) and I feel very guilty about that number because I understand the importance of waiting until marriage now that I’m older and have more knowledge. I was raised a Christian so that has a lot to do with how I’m feeling. I feel shame, guilt and just feel like no guy will really want me now because they will think I’m “used” up and view me as slut. Everyone makes mistakes but I feel like I’m someone who has a hard time forgiving myself. Has anyone dealt with this kind of situation or done something that you just couldn’t forgive yourself for?

Ok Community - we’re brand new mods and we’re feeling brave, so we’re going to open up User Flair and let y’all get creative! What could go wrong? All we ask is that you take a peek at the rules and don’t break any rules in your flair! If that starts being a problem, then we’ll have to restrict it or shut it down, so don’t ruin the fun. We welcome a little snark and humor though!
For users who don’t know how to change their flair, I’ll try to give instructions (and someone smarter than me can chime in if my instructions are terrible). On mobile, when you go to our community, click the three dots at the top and choose “change flair”. We added in some options 😂, but if you choose one and click “edit”, you can make it your own.
On desktop, I have no idea how to do it, so someone can feel free to chime in. Sorry!
Have fun! We’re excited to see what you’ve got. Please don’t make us regret it or get us shut down ;)

I had a rough childhood, but somehow I only realized in the last year and half that is was actually abusive. My father was definitely an obvious narcissist, but I really don't know what the deal is with my mom. She is very much a JN however.
I was never allowed to have any boundaries with her. I was completely emotionally neglected, while being held responsible for reading and fixing everyone else's big emotions. I've come to realize my mom is through and through a very selfish person. When I see her, she takes up all the space in the room. She talks incessantly, without ever asking anything about me. On the rare occasions she does ask me something related to my life, it's STILL not about me - she asks about my stepdaughters and friends because she wants to hear about their young kids. Right now my fiance and I are planning a wedding, and the only things she asks me about my wedding are things that relate back to her. I've realized after spending my whole life not sharing anything about myself ever, and making all conversations about the other person because I felt like I wasn't worth being given the space to share, that I am SO DONE with that. I only want people in my life that care about me in return. Now when people don't reciprocate my interest in them and their lives, I feel resentful and stop caring about their stuff. So realizing that my mom has only ever valued me for what I do for her, for the emotional support I provide, but that she is incapable of returning any of that to me, I now realize I do not enjoy our interactions at all. I can no longer muster interest in her incessant chatter. It's just all so boring too - she tells me about her interactions with random neighbours and other crap that literally means nothing to me.
But it's also hard to fully let go. She has been very generous to me throughout my life, even though we never had much in the way of money. She would always bail me out of bad situations I got myself into, she would stand up to teachers for me when I was a kid and they gave me a hard time, she's always been generous with her gifts. None of that makes up for the complete lack of emotional support though. It does however make me feel guilty for wanting to withdraw. I feel like it's proof that she does love me, even if this is the only way she can show it. There's definitely generational trauma in my family, and I know she is a deeply traumatized human. I feel compassion for her for that. I even give her the benefit of the doubt that she did try her best. Unfortunately her best was just not good enough, and I am now left as a deeply traumatized human myself. I have been low contact with her since January 2022, when I suddenly got hit with flashbacks and realizations that have continued to unfold. Our latest interaction really brought into focus for me that she refuses to take any responsibility for any hurt she ever causes me, and instead turns it around to make herself the victim. But it's so sneaky, that it seems like she's taking responsibility. I will mention something she did from my childhood that hurt me, and now she's crying and blubbering about how she's a terrible mother, and all of a sudden I'm now comforting her. Lately I have been refusing to take the bait, I will not comfort her or take responsibility for her own feelings about how SHE mistreated ME.
I'm sorry this is so long. I just needed to get some of my thoughts out. I now realize that we are swiftly headed towards NC. I understand that this is who she is as a person, and that she is very unlikely to change. I've realized that I get nothing out of our interactions, aside from feeling frustrated, resentful, and let down that once again she doesn't care about me. It's just hard to let go of the hope that "this time she'll care." My whole life, I've looked for parent figures, especially mother figures. I've never found anyone willing to fulfill that role for me, and I need that so desperately. At this point, as I approach 40, I realize that I will have to be that person for myself. I just really wish there was a service where you could connect with volunteers who are willing to be healthy mother figures to grown adults. Having someone else fill that role would make it so much easier to walk away.
I just feel so sad and alone.
Thanks for listening.

i’m very young. i’m still in school. i still have a lot of life left to experience. i also have way more things to learn. lessons, opportunities, and skills. but, i know some things. i know how this world works. the people in it and the things they’re willing to do. for a while, i was convinced that all people (or at least vast majority) were assholes. that nobody in this world was pure. that peoples desires were so disgusting which really disturbed me. that everyone being selfish and entitled through my personal experiences. this is what i thought. but that was until yesterday. yesterday, i got a haircut at a hair salon with my mother. yeah, you’re probably thinking about how something simple, like a haircut, could change my strong opinion about people. but please be open-minded. continuing, my name got called up by the stylist or barber or whatever you call them. it was a man. at first, i was scared. he was tall and buff. he looked really tough. (haha, that rhymed.) and he looked annoyed. i was wrong for already judging him. i haven’t even met the guy personally and already made assumptions. i guess i was part of the asshole majority. when i sat down, he asked me what i wanted and i told him just wanted a trim and some face framers. while he was cutting my hair, he made some small talk. and it really shocked me. none of my barbers have ever really talked to me or wanted to know about me. “what grade are you in?” he asked. when i told him, he was shocked because he thought i was older. he mentioned that he had two daughters in high school that i looked older than. i asked if they went to the town’s school district and he said that they were in another state which made me feel bad for asking. but he acted like he didn’t mind. while he was cutting the back of my hair, he asked me if i was familiar with x-men. i said yeah, and he told me that i had one silver hair which reminded him of rogue. i laughed and he told me not to be insecure about it because it was a sign of early wisdom. yeah, the conversations are really specific so i’m not going to mention all of them. through these detailed conversations, i learned a lot about him. he’s been in this town for a while, played for the high school teams. wresting and football. he also mentioned his dreams of becoming a doctor. something about cells interested him. he also loved the feeling of helping people and seeing a good change in them. which really made me smile. like i said, i always thought people desired malice. that people loved hurting others. but he proved me wrong. there are actually people out here that want to help. that genuinely care. i told him that he already helps people with hair cutting and it made him smile because he was new to this job and still learning. he also thanked me for my patience, for he preferred quality over quantity. he finished most my hair and went onto the front. i had asked for face framers. as he was about to cut my hair, he asked another co-worker for help. well, he didn’t really need help, he just needed some directions. the lady co-worker gave him some instructions and did the left side of my hair. he got it but while he was cutting the right side, he got stumped and asked a different co-worker for advice or help. he said he wasn’t really getting the hang of it so she took over. she said he did amazing, comforting him. she was so nice. she knew the exact words to say and perfectly phrased everything. she told me that my hair was beautiful and really thick. that i was blessed with a lot of hair. she cut my hair really good. sure, it wasn’t the way i had originally wanted, she started changing it to her liking, but it was still good. and her kindness really made me like the haircut even more. when they finished, they turned my seat to the mirror and i saw the final look. it was wonderful. the parts that he cut were straight and neat. the front was really really great. i liked it. she gave me a compliment saying i should be in a magazine and how she’s really contemplating if she should cut her hair like mine instead of growing it out for donation. and it really made me smile. i felt ugly a lot. i don’t think people or even myself liked the way i looked. and to hear that, from a pretty woman and man was everything. i hated it when people were sweet. i mean, i don’t hate the people or the sweetness. i hate how it makes me overthink and how it makes me drown in guilt for how i think of others. for how my mindset has been set to think this way. i thanked her and she also thanked me for letting her style my hair. gosh, i cannot believe this much generosity can exist in just two people. when i got up, i thought my mom would be happy or even shocked about my new look, but i thought wrong. she looked irritated and said it took long enough. she also said that nothing changed about my hair and that i looked the same even though clearly didn’t. it was a lot shorter than it was before. maybe she was too tired to see but other than that she was being a bit rude to him. that took a lot of effort for him, especially since he is new in hair cutting. yeah, it took a long time, but they did great. i got what i wanted and i’m not complaining about it. we paid and he thanked us for our patience. i thanked him for the great haircut and said goodbye. when we got in the car, my mom was continuing about it. it really made me sit there and think. thinking about my stupid opinion. i really wanted to believe that my opinion would change. yeah, i understand why my mom was irritated. that haircut took her money and a lot of her time. but it made me feel bad. bad about my stupid opinion, those two wonderful hairdressers, everything. i don’t know. maybe this asshole majority doesn’t even matter.