Monthly Archives

November 2015

Men at the Spa

Why do we do it to them? Poor things. Why do we take men to spas? Why do we do couples spa weekends? Men might be down with the massage, but I can promise by the looks on their faces they are not okay with being in the spa. The only other time I’ve seen such a look of horror on any face – gentlemen forgive the analogy – is when I bathed my cat.

You see, cats are not meant to be bathed. Their tongues are made with all kinds of wiry tongue stuff, which is essentially a loofah in their mouths – handy because a good loofah is hard to find but that’s a separate conversation – so cats never need bathing by humans. Cats have bathing handled. Men, they get that same look. It’s a look that says, “Why did you bring me here to get all preened and relaxed? I’ve usually got this handled with a shower in the morning and a heavy dose of television watching in the evening, as long as its not Fashion Police or Grey’s Anatomy”.

So, why do we take men to spas? Why do we throw beige terry cloth robes over them and make them sit outnumbered by women? They are not like a shitty sofa you throw a new cover on and pretend it’s not shitty. (Forgive the analogy again gentlemen – many of you are very fine looking sofas – I am working your corner here). Do we want them to smell less like sweaty balls and more like citrus jasmine when we go down on them? Or are we so afraid to be on our own that we’d rather submerge someone into an aroma therapeutic bath of misery than brave the weekend in solitude? Or do we mistrust them so much that we’d rather have them rubbed up by someone on a massage table next to us, than think about them doing that alone?

Whatever the reason, I’m going to go ahead and say I don’t like them at the spa. Because they look so miserable. They look like they just want to go home before anyone sees them there. They stare into the middle distance; I’m sure thinking what they will tell their colleagues on Monday about the weekend, because they can’t possibly tell the truth. Like children who don’t want to see their parents having sex they look away from the women liberally letting their bodies fall out of the robes. Nope, I don’t like having them there. I like men to be men. They don’t have to be chopping wood, but they do need to be doing what they like doing. And have enough of a manly voice to say, “I’d rather chop my wood than go to spa”.

I should say, for those guys who do like it, you can stay. Because you look comfortable in your exfoliated skin. Have a nice chakra alignment rose bath, Sir. The rest of you squirming and sighing next to your girl, go home and remember you have a pair under that terry cloth robe. And to the ladies who have dragged them there: bring a friend. Or a book about the joys of solitude. Or get a cat. And leave your sourpuss dude on that covered sofa, where he belongs.

In Flight Emergencies: Safety Videos

Words I’m pretty sure I will never hear anyone say, “Have you seen the hilarious safety video on Delta?” Reply I’m pretty sure I will never hear, “I was crying I was laughing so much, but it’s not as funny as the United one – that one made me wet the seat just a little, and I was on an 8 hour flight which is loooong when your underwear is just a bit damp”.

Okay I might have exaggerated the reply a bit to definitely make it something no one will ever say, but you get the point. No matter how hard anyone tries plane safety videos will not be funny. And man, are they trying to be funny. Somewhere out there a bunch of writers are being tasked with upping the stakes of airplane safety videos, and my heartaches for them. My hand also makes a punching fist because I have a punch in the face for them.

If you’ve been on Delta, United or American lately you’ll have seen the latest trend of “buried laughs” in the safety video. Rabbits that appear when they are showing where the life vests are, ventriloquists who put the oxygen masks on their puppets after first placing them on their own nose and mouth, and people dressed as ants, priests and magicians who look like Abe Lincoln for reasons I don’t exactly remember – all attempts to make us listen to the safety videos more and chuckle, chortle – or in the case of Virgin America who has done theirs in song – tap your feet, presumably to distract you from the actual thoughts of death should the tin bird nose dive.

I hate to be the party pooper but can’t we just have it super practical, informative – you know – life saving for when the planes starts plummeting from 50, 000 feet, and be done? I’m pretty certain that there’s no statistical data proving that more people escaped a downed plane because as it was going down they remembered that ventriloquist and put the oxygen masks just right. No, to poop the party more, I’d say most planes that go down just go down. No people or puppets make it.

I’d really prefer if that plane does go down for the last thing on my mind not to be Virgin America safety video song that sticks in the creases of your brain like rot in the grouting of your bathroom tiles. I have not lived this long, or learned this much, or collected this many memories to have that happen dammit! My life flashing before my eyes with that song as the sound track. Tragic.

No, I want to die thinking I was well briefed on the safety of this plane but when it’s your time to go, it’s your time to go. And I want to be thinking about the terrible writers who once wrote shitty airplane safety scripts that were meant to be funny and feel forgiveness. Alternatively I want to have just enough time to hope they are going down in this ball of flames with me. Thank you for your attention and enjoy all your flights.

My Love of Free

I recently had the pleasure of working in one of those start up places that give you free food all day, everyday.  This is how I reacted.  I love a bargain.  Somewhere between my Scottish roots and my six years in Amsterdam, I’ve got this thing.  But I also hate haggling, so really what I’m saying is I love free stuff.  If something is free, I take it.  Maybe that sounds normal, but I mean I take it even if I don’t need it.  And I’ll take a lot.

I have walked out of my Ob-Gyns offices with a bag full of prenatal vitamins.  I’m 45 years old.  I will not be needing prenatal vitamins.  But they’re vitamins, right?  And they’re free.  When I go to a Bliss spa I allocate an extra half hour to an hour just so I can eat the slices of cheese waiting in the lounge with whale sounds.  And the crackers.  And then take a shower after  – even though I just got scrubbed – so I can use the great free Bliss soap.  And the lotion.  And the mouthwash.  And pack my bag full of plastic combs just in case I ever decide to actually comb my hair.  And I use the Q-tips.  And I clean my contact lenses.  I basically go along the shelf and use everything.

I will wake up from the deepest sleep on a plane – having drunk the free champers – at the slightest rattle of a dining cart.  Not thirsty, not hungry, but I take what I can.  I buy cosmetics just so I can get the free samples.  Every time I’ve moved I’ve left garbage bags filled with Clinique, Dermalogica and La Mer for the homeless people in my neighborhood.  If you see a homeless person with glowing skin and super refined pores, that’s where I lived once.

So coming into a office where everything is free is really interesting for me.  For the first few days I ate everything.  Full egg and bacon breakfast.  Lunch with dessert. I drank kombucha because it was on tap.  I hate kombucha.  But free kombucha is amazingly delicious.  But then I started to miss eating cereal.  I started to miss coming home to the bits of cereal dried up in the bowl in the sink.  Getting my own coffee.  Deciding what I will eat rather than lining up to eat like a veal calf destined for slaughter.

Seeing the glee on new employees’ faces as they get shown cafe, after cafe, after cafe, I genuinely fear for all of us becoming human veal calves.  Lead to the slaughter with food, and gentle massages.  Maybe I’m older.  Maybe I just like to be in control.  Maybe I like to feel like I’ve earned my money,  and like men did back in the day, I want to walk into the saloon and put down my penny and buy my man-self a drink.  Maybe I just like going outside.  Walking away from where I am and using the free Wi-Fi at Starbucks and knicking a few packets of agave for my cereal while I’m at it.  Maybe I think if we are given everything, we will never know the joy of free.