Lo behold, I’ve got to tell you all that I was forced to go into a beauty treatment. I’m a true blue Californian surfer boy, OKAY?! I don’t really pamper myself. I don’t see the need apart from the usual personal hygiene. That way I don’t really fit in very well with the image of the ‘New York metrosexual male’. I’m the boy next door that you’ll see in t-shirts and jeans, skating around in the neighborhood. I used to be way more tanned than I am now, but New York pretty much changed my skin. After years of living here, it’s sickly pale. So I get out to the parks and skate whenever I can. The best thing about the summer is that I can skate to work, but the traffic gets a little crazy around the Times Square area, so I start walking from there onwards.
Donna got me this beauty package for my birthday. She was going to take me to a black tie event so it was the perfect birthday gift that was going to improve both our images. She said, “Bob, I know you’re not going to clean yourself up properly, so I got the package for you. You don’t have a choice. You want to go to this event so I need you to look your best.” Apparently big funders for non-profit organizations that Donna’s working with are going to be there. Plus some of her socialite family friends are going to be there. So I needed to do this for Donna. I didn’t mind, and I’m not going to use the “what are friends for” line either. I figured it’s something out of the ordinary routine that I should just enjoy.
So I took the day off the other day to well, to ‘get pampered’. Donna came with me to give me company. It was my first time being in a beauty parlor and I wasn’t going to cut my hair. I walked in and I felt like a giant. All the little Korean ladies stared at me, they came up to about my chest. At least Donna comes up to my shoulders. Donna told them what to do. I had to take off my sandals. All of a sudden I was surrounded by little Korean ladies taking care of my hands and feet, laughing and talking in a tongue I couldn’t understand. They were probably talking about how dirty my finger nails were or something about my face. I thanked Donna for picking an hour that she thought would have the least number of people pampering themselves. There were one or two other clients, I was the only guy in there. I was also the tallest person. I felt self-conscious, like a teenager.
Donna did her pampering as well. She seemed to fit in fine, unlike me who was feeling uneasy throughout all this. I failed to understand why you need to brush, trim, wash, then re-brush and wash again. I mean, isn’t it enough to do it just once? And then they did some other stuff like “buffing”, as I was educated by Donna. They did some other stuff that I don’t really recall. But overall it wasn’t as bad an experience as I thought. I think I fell asleep for a while when they were doing my facial. I can understand now why people are so addicted to beauty treatments and spas. It was really relaxing for me, and almost therapeutic. So if you’re really stressed out, go get yourself pampered and feel rejuvenated. Hey, it’s cheaper than vacations!
