Pexels/Reddit

Few things are as powerful as a rule that nobody can actually explain.

A student on her school’s drumline found a bottle of glitter polish while cleaning and gave her short nails a little sparkle. Her band tech, who’d been known to take passive-aggressive swipes at girls in the band before before, privately told her it was affecting her skill and demanded she take it off.

She said no, pointing out that she hadn’t gotten a single note on her technique. Her section leader, who wore black polish himself, saw nothing wrong with it either.

The tech responded by delivering lectures to the entire line about putting appearance over greatness.

Never before had a little nail polish had never caused so much noise.

Keep reading for the full story.

AITA for refusing to remove my nail polish?

I’m on the drum line for my school’s marching band. I play the bass drum, and I genuinely love it more than anything.

This year, my program got a new tech.

Before long, the student and the tech begin to butt heads.

He’s super nice but oddly particular about a couple of things, nails being one of them.

He’s mentioned before that he thinks press-on nails and long nails affect drumming and skill (they don’t, I speak from the experience of many) and has made passive-aggressive remarks to some of the girls on the line.

I keep my nails short because I hate getting grime and whatnot behind them.

That’s when this student decided to take her nail game to the next level.

Last week, I was cleaning and found a little bottle of glitter polish. I thought it was fun and painted my nails with it. It’s super subtle, and you’d really only see it if you were staring at my nails.

Of course, this tech had a lot to say about this.

Last Tuesday, I went to practice, and while I was setting up my drum, I felt a tap on my shoulder. It was my tech.

He asked to speak with me privately for a second, and I complied.

He proceeded to tell me that my clear glitter polish was affecting my technique and skill, and he would prefer it to be gone by the next practice (Thursday).

Instead of just immediately giving in, the student stood her ground.

I told him I understood where he was coming from, but also said I would not be removing it, citing that I had received no notes on my technique or skill since I applied it.

He kind of just said whatever and walked away.

That’s when she decided to get an outside opinion on the matter.

Between Tuesday and Thursday, I contacted my section leader (who notably wears black nail polish from time to time) and asked if he thought my nails would affect anything. He was really confused about how they would and said that it was fine.

On Thursday, I showed up to practice with my glitter nail polish still on. The tech made like four different comments to everyone on drum line about how we shouldn’t put appearance over our drive to be great.

Now she’s starting to feel unfairly singled out.

I seriously don’t get how my nail polish affects my skill.

AITA for refusing to remove it because of that?

This whole dispute is so ridiculous.

What did Reddit have to say?

This user finds the tech’s argument just plain comical.

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This user calls this exactly what it is.

This commenter has some choice words.

If you enjoyed this story, check out this post about a homeowner who doesn’t care whether or not their neighbors hate their yard flamingos, because they aren’t subject to the HOA.

Why is this guy being so militant about just the practice?

This tech has somehow decided that nail polish is a character flaw, and he’s chosen a student with a spotless record as his test case.

A drummer who gets no notes on her playing has no technique problem, but this tech is determined to put his own personal bias ahead of logic.

Pulling her aside in private was one thing, but turning every following rehearsal into a sermon aimed at the whole line shows he cares more about winning a petty argument than anything else.

The band would be better if the people in charge could just focus on the music.

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Author

Benjamin Cottrell

Benjamin Cottrell | Assistant Editor, Internet Culture

Benjamin Cottrell is an Assistant Editor and contributing writer at TwistedSifter, specializing in internet culture, viral social dynamics, and the moral complexities of online communities. He brings a highly analytical, editorial voice to his reporting on workplace conflicts, malicious compliance, and interpersonal drama, with a specific focus on nuanced stories that lack an obvious villain.

As a published author of rhetorical criticism, Benjamin leverages his academic background in human communication to dissect and elevate viral social media threads. Instead of simply summarizing events, he provides readers with balanced, deep-dive commentary into why the internet reacts the way it does. In addition to his cultural reporting, he is an experienced fine art photography essayist and video game reviewer.

When he isn’t analyzing the latest viral debates, Benjamin is usually chipping away at his extensive video game backlog, hunting down the best new restaurants, or out exploring the city with a camera in hand.

Connect with Benjamin on Instagram and read more of his essays on Substack.