Man, my buddy got hit with the same thing on a gardening sub when he typed the word "pesticide" in a post about his tomatoes. His post got auto removed and he had to message the mods twice just to get it looked at, and by then nobody cared anymore. So yeah, his trick now is typing the word with a space in the middle, which looks dumb but at least it goes through.

South Lamar's had my back before too, the trick is to keep the whispers low and pick a row near the back. If a manager walks up with a card, just own it and ask what they thought of the scene, that hallway chat is usually free popcorn waiting to happen.

Who actually owns your book is the real question and most people never ask it. Like if the front desk books someone for a color without checking if they even want color, do you get to say no or does the shop push it on you? And when a client calls to rebook, do they ask for you by name or just take whatever slot is open that day? If the desk controls the schedule and the reminders and the rebooking calls, they own that client, not you. So what happens if you ever leave, do those clients follow you or stay with the shop?