Day of Beauty – Part II
I dropped off mom’s scripts to be filled at the local drugstore. It would take about an hour to have them filled. I desperately needed a haircut and recalled a nearby barbershop (yes, with the spinning pole and old-style chairs) nearby.
I hustled over to the barbershop and was immediately ushered into a seat. I told the barber that I needed a haircut and gave him the instructions to shave the sides and back, and trim the top. You know when you walk into say a hair dresser in DC, you just want a quick in-out-haircut… typically no longer than say, 30 minutes. What I thought would be a 15-20 minute haircut turned into a 2+ hour unplanned day of beauty.
Throughout the course of my haircut, the barber kept on asking me if I wanted any "additional services." I was skeptical, and didn’t exactly understand what he was getting at. He told me that massage was included with the haircut.
Uh, ok. That was new to me.
Next thing I know, as I am still getting my hair cut, he puts my fiddles with the chair and a leg rest pops up (just like a recliner.) A random staff guy starts massaging my arms (I’m fully clothed… and yes, he is fully clothed.) and legs. It feels good and I don’t complain. I resisted at first, explaining that I had a massage and facial the previous day. This didn’t quite seem to register with the barber. Whatever. I went along with it.
Then he asks, “do you want a manicure?”
I felt rushed… I only planned to be there for 20 minutes and needed to go back to the pharmacy. I took a breath, tried to relax, and capitulated.
Manicure? Fine.
Pedicure? Fine.
Facial? I had just had one, but apparently “no” was not an acceptable response. Fine.
Ear-cleaning? Hmm. Never had THAT before. Fine.
Back massage? Ok fine. Let’s just get this over with.
And yes… he’s still cutting my hair. During this period of time, I had three people working on me: the barber, the masseur, and the mani/pedi/facialist. God, it was so weird... and all of this in an old school BARBER CHAIR.
Fast-forward… everything was finished. I left the pharmacy around 15:30, and it was now almost 18:00. Then the barber and the masseur started working my BACK (they had me lean forward.) They spoke to one another in tagalog, but I could tell that they really wanted to get the stress and tension out of my shoulders and back as they were still rock-hard. The barber and his assistant were pretty persistent. Unfortunately, I wasn’t so cooperative (or rather, my muscles weren't so cooperative.)
I let them go to town on my back, but I knew that it would take sledgehammer at this point to pound my muscles into relaxation. Their efforts were for naught.
I finally encouraged them to give up. I needed to go.
I gave them my deep thanks… feigned deep appreciation for their efforts and wonderful services (granted, all I wanted was a f**king haircut, but whatever…) I paid my bill (turned out to be ~$40USD… no wonder, he was padding all of these f**king services) and left to go back to the pharmacy.
Lesson learned from the story: I must be really f**king tense. Two consecutive deep tissue massages and no one could get me to loosen up. I could never fall asleep during the treatments. My mind still racing with things-to-do. So much on my mind. So much to do. Need to make sure everything goes well.
I really need to go to Boracay.
I hustled over to the barbershop and was immediately ushered into a seat. I told the barber that I needed a haircut and gave him the instructions to shave the sides and back, and trim the top. You know when you walk into say a hair dresser in DC, you just want a quick in-out-haircut… typically no longer than say, 30 minutes. What I thought would be a 15-20 minute haircut turned into a 2+ hour unplanned day of beauty.
Throughout the course of my haircut, the barber kept on asking me if I wanted any "additional services." I was skeptical, and didn’t exactly understand what he was getting at. He told me that massage was included with the haircut.
Uh, ok. That was new to me.
Next thing I know, as I am still getting my hair cut, he puts my fiddles with the chair and a leg rest pops up (just like a recliner.) A random staff guy starts massaging my arms (I’m fully clothed… and yes, he is fully clothed.) and legs. It feels good and I don’t complain. I resisted at first, explaining that I had a massage and facial the previous day. This didn’t quite seem to register with the barber. Whatever. I went along with it.
Then he asks, “do you want a manicure?”
I felt rushed… I only planned to be there for 20 minutes and needed to go back to the pharmacy. I took a breath, tried to relax, and capitulated.
Manicure? Fine.
Pedicure? Fine.
Facial? I had just had one, but apparently “no” was not an acceptable response. Fine.
Ear-cleaning? Hmm. Never had THAT before. Fine.
Back massage? Ok fine. Let’s just get this over with.
And yes… he’s still cutting my hair. During this period of time, I had three people working on me: the barber, the masseur, and the mani/pedi/facialist. God, it was so weird... and all of this in an old school BARBER CHAIR.
Fast-forward… everything was finished. I left the pharmacy around 15:30, and it was now almost 18:00. Then the barber and the masseur started working my BACK (they had me lean forward.) They spoke to one another in tagalog, but I could tell that they really wanted to get the stress and tension out of my shoulders and back as they were still rock-hard. The barber and his assistant were pretty persistent. Unfortunately, I wasn’t so cooperative (or rather, my muscles weren't so cooperative.)
I let them go to town on my back, but I knew that it would take sledgehammer at this point to pound my muscles into relaxation. Their efforts were for naught.
I finally encouraged them to give up. I needed to go.
I gave them my deep thanks… feigned deep appreciation for their efforts and wonderful services (granted, all I wanted was a f**king haircut, but whatever…) I paid my bill (turned out to be ~$40USD… no wonder, he was padding all of these f**king services) and left to go back to the pharmacy.
Lesson learned from the story: I must be really f**king tense. Two consecutive deep tissue massages and no one could get me to loosen up. I could never fall asleep during the treatments. My mind still racing with things-to-do. So much on my mind. So much to do. Need to make sure everything goes well.
I really need to go to Boracay.
posted by YodaBeesh at
9:51 PM
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