Texas Cosmetology Professionals Pay Dearly For Providing Services

Texas is just plain license happy.  I recently blogged about a potential law, that if passed, will require exotic dancers to be licensed to......................DANCE?

Now, someone else has brought to my attention, that statewide, under the thumb of Cosmetology, there is another fee that must be paid if you want to become...

...an "Eyelash Extension Specialist".  What?

I realize that Barbering requires some sort of class curriculum to show that you attended an accredited educational offering, but I still get bad haircuts!

And, after you pass the "eyelash" course, you must make restitution annually (oops, I meant, you must renew your license yearly, as in pay a fee).  I'm wondering if payment is based upon overall cosmetology, or is subject to let's say, an "a la carte" menu.

I mean, do police and firefighters get a bill each year for doing their jobs?  Now, any occupation, surely, could require extension studies be mastered in order to keep a position, or to be considered for promotion, but the idea of treating a job like renewing your vehicle registration sounds more like a "shakedown", especially since the fee is not tied to supplementary schooling.  (Classic rockers may remember the movie "Roadhouse", where Ben Gazarra's character, Brad Wesley, "shakes down" the community businesses by taking a percentage of profits).

You know, way back in 1976, before taking my very first on-air gig, I was required to get a document known as a "Third Class Radio/Telephone Operator's License".  I sent away the request to the FCC in Washington, D.C., before receiving a flimsy, poorly typed business card size credential, giving me the power to speak in front of a microphone.  In 1984, I was told to toss it in the round file.  Go figure.

So now if I broadcast any one of the "seven dirty words" (invest in Howard Stern's one hit wonder flick, "Private Parts"), the company takes the hit under their licensing doctrine.  Of course, my career is history, but I rather mind my manners than write the check every 365 days.

444 months in radio, divided by 12, divided by $60 (nice round number); figure I've saved over Two Grand in my lifetime.