From the Editor: About Thursday's Patch Picks

See the bottom of the article for a top-five list based on readers' suggestions.

I’ve been doing this job for just under a year now, and I got more angry responses yesterday than in all the months combined since the site launched last July.

Clearly, I underestimated how much my readers care about their hair stylists.

Some of you called my Patch Picks column “pathetic.” One reader said I “slighted” some of the stylists I didn’t specifically mention, and several of you expressed exasperation at my inclusion of the detail that one stylist helped a local business owner clear a virus off of her computer.

Allow me to explain what happened.

I often ask readers for suggestions for Patch Picks. Usually, that request goes partially—if not completely—unheard.

Several weeks ago, I had to scrap my planned Patch Picks column because not one reader responded to my request for input.

In this case, I received . I knew that the request article had gotten a lot of attention, but I didn’t realize until I sat down to write the Patch Picks column Thursday that those responses were approaching triple digits.

That was at 1 p.m. Due to a pending Patch meeting in Boston and my 3 p.m. deadline, I had about 30 minutes to write the column—which is usually more time than I need.

It was not, however, enough time to tabulate all the responses in a scientific manner.

Some of you suggested that I didn’t read the entire thread, but I did. At the time, there were 90 responses, and I read each of them.

Knowing that I didn’t have the time to properly tabulate the votes, I instead looked for the comments with the most color. While not strictly hair related, I thought that the computer virus anecdote was colorful and, in the short timeline, worthy of note.

So, I apologize to each of you who thought that Thursday’s Patch Picks column gave short shrift to your favorite stylist. That was not my intent. My intent was to write a quick, light, fun article that touched on your responses.

In the future, I will list a deadline on my requests for input so that you know when I will stop accepting responses. I will also aim to sit down to this particular task when I have more time available.

I have heard your complaints. I apologize for not properly addressing your outpouring of support for local stylists, and please, continue to participate. Reading Patch works better when more people contribute to it.

I should be so lucky as to get this much participation from my readers each week.

Thank you,

Matt Casey
Editor
Reading Patch

Top Five Stylists in Reading (according to Reading Patch readers):

1. Amy at Lumina Salon
2. Stephanie at Em-Belle-Ish
3. Ramonits at Lumina
4. Jen at Em-Belle-Ish
5. Tara at Em-Belle-ish

Order based on comments including only one stylist received by 8 a.m. Friday.