Full of Fabulous
I shall not speak about work, other than to say I had a meeting first thing Monday morning that immediately sent my neck muscles into spasm.
One minute I’m making an ass of myself in front of People Way More Important Than Me and the next I can’t turn my head to the left at all. Turning to the right wasn’t a heckuva lot better. Ah, what interesting (and painful) surprises the mind-body connection brings!
I decided that I simply had to have some sort of relief, so I went to the Mall at lunch to the quick massage place and got 15 heavenly minutes of neck and shoulder action.
The guy was good. He found all of my worst spots right away and attacked them with hands that were both tender and strong, rubbing, kneading, stretching and coercing my ready-to-snap rubber bands into limp noodles.
I got up and put on my glasses and got ready to pay. Then I began to panic as I scrabbled through my purse pockets over and over, looking helplessly for my wallet, praying for it to somehow magically appear. But no. I had put it in the dog-walking bag the night before and had forgotten to take it out.
I stood there, my face getting redder and redder, imagining what happened to People Who Could Not Pay – would I be put to work? Would a Mall Cop be engaged to escort me away in handcuffs?
I was saved by finding my magic pouch of laundry money in the bottom of my purse. Luckily, I had cashed a $20 bill at the last minute at the laundromat, only needing 75 cents to finish a load of drying.
So I did. Yes, I did. I paid the man $16, all in quarters, plus a whopping $2 tip. Also in quarters.
I don’t know what he thought of this payment method, because I was too busy staring at my shoes and getting the hell out of there.
The good news is that, once again, I avoided arrest. The bad news is that, by the time got out the door, my neck had begun to get all tight again from the stress of not knowing where my wallet was, and I couldn’t afford another 15 minute massage because I was out of quarters.
Photo by Jackson Carson. Used under a Creative Commons non-commercial license.
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Suebob's Red Stapler 
Ok, your Monday was worse than mine. I couldn’t remember any of my work passwords and I thought I was out the door.
I hate that password-forgetting thing. I couldn’t use my ATM card for about a week one time because I totally forgot the PIN. Yikes.
Golly darn, we must be related. Isn’t stress fun? lol
I think we get it from Dad’s side. Mom seems pretty relaxed.
Emergency money is a great thing. You just reminded me to re-stash some. As far as loose change, I just cashed in $71.26 today. I love Union Bank’s coin counter.
I try to stash money in my car and in my house and here and there, just because I am the type to leave my wallet in the dog walking bag, under the collection of plastic grocery bags I take with me to clean up after her.
Hey. Money’s money, right?
It would have been nicer to pay with my black American Express card but no.
I never get massages, but I’m definitely not going to get one now if what you’re saying is that it’s possible that the person giving me the massage is just a previous customer who couldn’t pay.
For no real reason, this story reminds me of the time my friend’s nine-year-old niece put a bunch of quarters in her tights and then decided to buy some gum. It was quite a spectacle.
The massage was worth the humilation. I think.
I love the tights story. It sounds like something I would have done…never thinking the consequences through quite clearly enough.
That’s the worst! I had to pay in quarters for a doctor copay once for a very similar reason.
You guys always make me feel better.
Suebob, it’s stories like this one that make me love you oh so very much. That has happened to me. Not at a massage place, but at a manicurist. And no laundry quarters to save me, either. It’s an awful, awful feeling.
What happened? Did they take you away in Mall Cop handcuffs?
I love your photo though.
Hope your neck is better. Those kind of pulls are awful.
I got the photo from flickr. I love being able to find great photos that are Creative Commons licensed so I can use them! I always send the photographer a link and give attribution and tell them I will change anything about it, including taking the photo down, if they desire. So far no one has ever said anything but thanks.
The neck is still a little funky, but that was a great massage.
This brings back a fond memory. In 2000, Husband and I were looking for a new apartment. I had to make a small deposit to reserve a place we were considering, but all I had was a big bag of change to take to the property manager’s office. The broker saw what I was going to do, and said, “Oh, I need quarters for laundry. Why don’t I take that bag and give you a $20 bill?” I shrugged and we made the exchange. Later Husband was horrified and pointed out that the broker just took the change so we would not look bad at the property management company and he would not lose the rental. ooops.
LOL. At least the broker liked you enough to do it.
we need to get together so I can give you a massage
I would love that. And I’d bring quarters.
The comment you left on my blog about your sister and the stranger on the plane made ME cry. What a beautiful story!!
Just returning the favor for all the times you’ve made me get teary.
ok, now you’ll know i am a nut case but i really do think that the neck pain like you described is from a virus. now hear me out. i used to work in an office which was kind of a pass thru and on a daily bases at least 50 other employees would walk by me and over the year i began to see a pattern. well, for one they always said something to me…what they ate for lunch, the great weather, the bad weather (you get the idea). so another topic was their health. “I’ve got this chrick in my neck. It hurts when ever I move in either direction. I must have slept wrong or maybe it’s stress.” three days later a different co-worker walks by and says : “I’ve got this crick in my neck. It hurts when ever I move in either direction. I must have slept wrong or maybe it’s stress.” a few days later another person says the same thing! I figured after awhile that the neck ache must be some kind of virus…not all these people were sleeping wrong or having mystery stress.
Hmmmm.