Heard a homeowner say bricks are just glued rocks, had to walk away

Honestly, I was on a job in Maplewood last Tuesday, redoing a small garden wall, and the owner comes out chatting. He points at my stack of commons and says, 'They're basically just glued rocks, right? Any idiot can stack them.' Took everything in me not to drop my trowel right there. I've been laying brick for 14 years, and that comment stung worse than a cold joint in January. I wanted to explain how a proper header course carries load, or how your frog should face down for mortar grab, but he wouldn't get it. Instead I just asked him to try leveling one course on a string line with a 3mm joint and see how 'easy' it is. He went quiet after that. Has anyone else had to bite their tongue when folks treat this trade like a weekend craft project?

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averywilliams9d ago

That string line trick worked for me, they usually pipe down real quick.