Professional Latex Manipulator

At some point, someone decided that they were going to license everything. You used to be able to hang a sign on your door and practice massage. To be a blacksmith, you needed to have the equipment, do the work, and if you did it well, people would come back to you. If you decided to become a tailor yo painted the needle and thread on your window and began making clothes, if you were good at it, you had more clients, if not, you went out of business.

At what point did we decide that in order to have a job in a specific trade, you have to be certified by someone else? Who decided that "Bob" was the one guy who could certify blacksmiths? Who made "Julia" the official designator of who could and could not call themselves "textile professionals."

I see all kinds of business cards with CPLP, CMT. LMP, PRH, PLC, etc. Why is that? Why is it that it is often illegal to practice a profession that is a learned trade that can be learned on your own. I have been making balloon sculptures for over 15 years. I've made 30 foot balloon sculptures, arches, pillars, dresses, wedding decorations and a literal incalculable number of hand-held creations. Yet there is an actual Certified Balloon Artist designation that I need to pay a fee and take a test to qualify for. So after my 10th year of creating balloon creations I added L.M. after my name on my cards. I figured that since I was at the point of being able to make absolutely anything that people asked me to make out of balloons I was a professional Latex Manipulator.

Several years ago a new-age practice of energy work started turning up in the local solstice centers, yoga studios and more adventurous massage practices, Reiki. Then few years later I started seeing people with Certified Reiki Master. Now Reiki is essentially the movement of energy through the body, often without even touching the recipient. Now whether you believe in the effectiveness of this technique or not, how do you establish a set of requirements on something that is guided by intuition and not proven to have any foundation in science?

I'm all for free enterprise. If you want to open a massage studio without paying the $10 THOUSAND dollars to get "Licensed" I think you should be able to. There is a difference between being good at massage and being a therapist. I understand that for medical practices, there needs to be a bit more oversight & education. But people are amazing. They truly are and the demand for certification and licensing for everything from balloon artists to people moving invisible energy is nuts.

If you happen to be good at making clothes you should not need a degree in fashion design, or be a "Master Seamstress" if you already have the experience to do the job, perhaps better than the so called experts. This is not brain surgery, building bridges, or anything else that puts other people in danger. And if people practice professions that they are not qualified or skilled at, people will stop utilizing them. The End. *steps off soap box*