Chemicalkinetics' thread about how a chef's choice of unconventional equipment might prejudice a person against his cooking ( http://chowhound.chow.com/topics/789618 ) got me thinking about what would, rightly or wrongly, prejudice me against a person's cooking ability.

I was reminded of a conversation at a party years ago with a woman sporting acrylic nails who told me she was attending culinary school. As soon as I saw those acrylics, my mind called *bullshit*. Not only do I not believe that any culinary school worth its salt would allow a student to attend classes sporting long/fake nails. I also think that (sanitary issues aside), there is a sort of preciousness to the maintenance of those nails that might very well keep a person from becoming a GREAT cook. (This betrays my feeling that it takes a certain assertiveness, aggressiveness and ballsy-ness which in many ways contradict such preciousness to become a truly GREAT cook.)

This is not to say that there aren't some really good cooks out there who produce delicious food on a consistent basis sporting the nails. It is to say that seeing them creates a prejudice in my mind about the cook's capacity for greatness.

What makes you doubt a person's ability to create great meals *before they start cooking?