Posted October 31, It takes lots of trust to let a complete stranger dig their hands into your joints, especially when you have no language in common with that person and no liability laws to protect you. But Chinese massages are great, so the trust is well-rewarded.
I was led to a big room full of massage tables, where I was treated skillfully alongside a dozen other people, all with street clothes on. At one point, a cell phone rang at the table next to me, and I was stunned to hear the customer chat away in Chinese as his massage continued.
When I got up at the end, I was amazed to see that most of the foot massage patrons were on the phone. Another massage parlor lured me in with their combination package : one hour foot massage and one hour body massage. When it was over, I was molecularly re-configured. But they kept trying to up-sell me on bigger combination packages: with oil, with belly rub, with rare essential oil plus special belly rub technique. So I took my realignment project elsewhere.
I splurged on a place that installed me in a dark, curtained-off cubicle. Take off clothes. As I waited for his return, I noticed that I was naked and alone in a foreign country waiting for a stranger to pound my aged fascia.
And it seemed curiously safe. This is the miracle of the modern world. Modern trade requires a huge amount of trust, which took centuries to build. We should celebrate that trust instead of taking it for granted. My confidence in Number 20 was truly tested, though. I didn't know my ribs could withstand that much force. Did he know what he was doing? Was he properly licensed and bonded? I willed myself to trust him because defending and contracting makes it hurt more.
