Sunday, March 16, 2008

Fascinating.

My first client yesterday was a 45-year-old widow from London, England. Her much older Greek husband passed away 10 years ago, leaving her their "fancy dress" (i.e. costume) shop/business.
What was so interesting is that she's a Turkish immigrant to England, having lived there for the past 21 years.
I knew many Turkish people growing up, considering I lived in "Little Istanbul", the borough of Kreuzberg in Berlin, Germany.
We had a fascinating conversation ranging in topic from women's rights, sharia law, religion, socialized medicine, to how to relax, de-stress, and the necessity of drinking plenty of water.
The lady is a socialist and an atheist. In her words religion, especially Islam, is "stupid crap". I liked her. :)
Too bad she's working herself to death. She hasn't taken a day off in 10 years, has no hobbies, only spends the evenings watching tv and drinking with her sister. Her entire body was very tense, and she talked during the whole massage, incapable of relaxing, though she did appear a little less stressed by the end of the session. She also needs to lay off the coffee, seeing as how she drinks it morning to night.

*sigh*

She's probably going to be back tomorrow for another massage, and I look forward to seeing her again.




I also had a new experience yesterday: I massaged a father and a son. The son was my last client, and he was a talker...I told him up front, "You don't have to tell me anything about you, your Dad took care of that earlier!"

His reply, "Oh, great!"

Both of them were very nice and interesting conversationalists, but neither of them tipped me...hmmmm...wonder if tightfistedness is genetic?




My second to last client was my tallest yet, 6'7"! His feet dangled off the edge of the table...
He was from Sweden, so we chatted about my (brief) time in Sweden, back in the day (1987). I didn't tell him that I lost my virginity on that trip...a girl's got to keep some secrets, after all!




What I'm reading now: "Where the Heart Leads", by Stephanie Laurens...yes, Phlegmmy, it IS a romance novel (a historical one, with a mystery to boot, set in London in 1835). Hey, I like happy endings, so sue me! Next in my TBR* stack: "American Gods" by Neil Gaiman. Should be good.

Hope you folks are having a great weekend, I still have mine to look forward to (Tuesday/Wednesday).


*TBR=To Be Read

9 comments:

Joey_C said...

Way to keep that secret about losing your virginity in Sweden, LOL!

Christina RN LMT said...

There's privacy, then there's privacy, if you know what I mean.
And if I can make people laugh, I triumph! Yay, me!

Joey_C said...

Atta Girl!

Anonymous said...

I agree with your kadin client. Marx said it best, “Organized religion is the opiate of the masses.”

Christina RN LMT said...

She was definitely a fascinating woman, I really enjoyed talking with her.

phlegmfatale said...

...and romance novels are Opium of the Mrs.

Loved the virginity thing.

Christina RN LMT said...

Phlegm. You are brilliant.

LBJ said...

It must be nice to meet and interact with people in a warm, comforting manner. I show up on scene I'm about as popular as a coyote at a poultry festival. But it's my job.

Opiniom of the Mrs. . . oh Lord you women are BRILLIANT.

Christina RN LMT said...

It's one of my favorite parts of the job. I've actually heard of massage therapists shushing their clients, telling them it was time to relax. MORONS! Whatever the client finds relaxing, that's what you have to do (legally!). I mean, if you as a client love blabbing about your mother and your boyfriend (or your mother WITH your boyfriend!) during your massage, why would I as your therapist try to stop you? Conversely, if you want to fall asleep and snore through the whole session, more power to you!
I see it as my job to provide the clients with the experience they hope for during the massage. Sometimes it can become quite raucous, especially in a side-by-side massage...but that's a story for another day!