I'll call him Santa
At work, we have a computer in the break-room with everyone's schedule. When a client's name is underlined we know they're here; when their name is bold, we know they requested their therapist by name. My client today requested me. I couldn't remember who he was.
Till I got him on the table and saw the huge blackhead in the middle of his spine that was there when I worked on him several weeks ago. Dear lordy, it's still there. It's huge. I had thought it was a mole, but it's definitely a blackhead.
Odd how something so small can consume so much of my thought process. Seriously, I wonder if I can pop it without him knowing, even though I'm sure it would be REALLY gross and probably hurt and bleed. So I massage around it and passively try to burst it and am so thankful when it's time to move on to his arms and I can cover his back with the sheet.
He's middle-aged, wears a beaten-up wedding ring, and I can't help but wonder how his wife hasn't seen the blackhead, and I feel sorry for this man as I am growing more sure that his marriage is loveless. How could a lover miss that? It's huge!
Towards the end of the massage, after I've had him turn onto his back, when the lights are dimmed so I can just read the clock, he asks if I ever take a vitamin D supplement and goes on to tell me how they help so much with mood and depression and...I wonder what he senses from me. What imperceptible messages have I been sending? Has my sadness for him been perceived as a deep sadness in myself? It's got me thinking. The massage ends.
He comes out of the room, I give him his cup of water and tell him to drink more, and he drains the whole cup. Then he says, "Merry Christmas," hands me a tip, and hugs me. I've never been hugged by a client; I don't touch clients after the massage.
He tipped me $40.
Till I got him on the table and saw the huge blackhead in the middle of his spine that was there when I worked on him several weeks ago. Dear lordy, it's still there. It's huge. I had thought it was a mole, but it's definitely a blackhead.
Odd how something so small can consume so much of my thought process. Seriously, I wonder if I can pop it without him knowing, even though I'm sure it would be REALLY gross and probably hurt and bleed. So I massage around it and passively try to burst it and am so thankful when it's time to move on to his arms and I can cover his back with the sheet.
He's middle-aged, wears a beaten-up wedding ring, and I can't help but wonder how his wife hasn't seen the blackhead, and I feel sorry for this man as I am growing more sure that his marriage is loveless. How could a lover miss that? It's huge!
Towards the end of the massage, after I've had him turn onto his back, when the lights are dimmed so I can just read the clock, he asks if I ever take a vitamin D supplement and goes on to tell me how they help so much with mood and depression and...I wonder what he senses from me. What imperceptible messages have I been sending? Has my sadness for him been perceived as a deep sadness in myself? It's got me thinking. The massage ends.
He comes out of the room, I give him his cup of water and tell him to drink more, and he drains the whole cup. Then he says, "Merry Christmas," hands me a tip, and hugs me. I've never been hugged by a client; I don't touch clients after the massage.
He tipped me $40.
posted by Darcy at 10:13 PM
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