Woman: “Heelo … can I hep yew?”
Me: “Yes, I’d like to make an appointment for a pedicure and manicure with John. A friend had recommended him to me.”
Woman: “Yew, come now.”
Me: “It will take me 20 minutes to get to your shop.”
Woman: “Yew, come nowww. He waiting.”
Me: “OK … see you in a little while.”
~~~~~~~
I drive my short little 20 minutes to the salon.
~~~~~~~
Woman: When I enter the salon, the woman at the front counter says, “Pic a cala.”
Me: I say, “I have my own color.” (thinking – there could be germs on their nail polish.)
Woman: John???? (shouting and unintelligible exchange)
Woman: Pointing, “You go there.”
I make my way to the pedicure chair. This man motions me to sit.
I grab my phone from my purse and, compliantly, I sit.
I place my feet into a warm soothing bath of salts. Now, I’m ready to be pampered.
The young man prepares his pedicure instruments and puts on his gloves.
Shutting the water off he looks up at me.
Him: “Wata ok?”
Me: “Excuse me?”
Him: Pointing, “Wata ok?”
Me: “Yes, its fine.”
The pedicure takes about 40 minutes.
Silence.
There’s never a word exchanged. Hand gestures are the mode of conversation.
Eventually, he looks up and points to the manicure table.
Like a good soldier, I march to my chair and sit.
He begins removing my old nail polish. Tense from all of this silence, I make a silly remark about my worse-for-wear nails due to gardening. He looks up and nods.
Creepy.
Does he hate gardening? Does he feel I’ve entered his silent zone without permission?
Unable to continue in this silent tortuous world I ask, “Do you work everyday?”
Him: “Yeezz”
Me: “When do you go to school?”
Him: Pointing to his salon license he says, “I finith school. Am tech now.”
Me: “I see that your name Van Nac Tan. It doesn’t say John on there.”
Him: “Me John.”
Me: I want to say, ‘No, your license says Van Nac Tan. Is John the translation?’
Him: As if I needed more clarification he says, “I am tirty yeer ol’.”
Me: “Ahhh … but you look so young.”
Him: He sends me a grimace with his eyes and, I’m sure, from under his mask too.
Me: (thinking) I guess he prefers silence.
I decide he’s a man of few words and a man who does not enjoy a compliment.
Before adding my new nail color he hands me the bill.
Him: “Yew pay now. Tip cash only”
Me: (thinking) Do I have cash? I’m a charge card carrying person. You know the one who gets lots and lots of points if you use your charge card for everything. I give him my card and off he goes to run it through. I look in my purse and find my emergency cash stash. Lucky me or him.
He hands me the charge receipt for signing. He takes it and places it in a draw. I give him his tip. He grabs it and again throws it in the draw. Nods a quick, Thack u, I think?
My nails are polished to a glossy shine. I’m directed to the drying area next and, then, he leaves for the back room without a word.
Me: (thinking) this has been relaxing: I think.
2017©Isadora DeLaVega
October 16, 2022 at 9:08 pm
Hi great readinng your blog
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Pingback: A RelaxingAfternoon – I think – Inside the Mind of Isadora – James Pedisource
November 7, 2017 at 7:34 pm
Oh no I wouldn’t like that, people who work with people need a certain personality!
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November 8, 2017 at 4:09 am
I agree. I learned to be personable and outward from doing the art shows. People enjoy a welcoming smile.
To sit across from someone who doesn’t even look up seems odd. The whole event brought a smile to my face.
It seemed like a case study in human nature. There’s a great deal of dialogg in this scenario.
Issy 😎
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November 7, 2017 at 2:30 pm
Hahahahaha! Sounds like a great manicure and pedicure inspite of the silence. LOL!
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November 8, 2017 at 4:05 am
I was very pleased with my mani/pedi but the tension from the silence means: never-go-back again.
I’m glad you had a laugh from this. I know I did. Life and all it’s twists and turns. It has put a smile on my face
for several days. I guess that means the laugh from the experience was worth it. Thanks, PJ.
Issy 😎
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November 8, 2017 at 1:51 pm
That’s too bad that you will never go back there again because of the silence. But if it made you uncomfortable then I understand.
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November 9, 2017 at 6:56 pm
I could probably tolerate the silence since the price was 1/2 of what I usually pay but it’s
supposed to be relaxing and fun. This wasn’t. : – )
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November 9, 2017 at 7:13 pm
Oh, that’s too bad. They are losing business and don’t even know it. I don’t blame you at all!
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November 7, 2017 at 2:56 am
I think that you enjoy relaxation – no matter the variation. 🙂
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November 7, 2017 at 4:38 am
YUP … that’s so true, aFrank. I always enjoy spa treatments. In fact, my primary physician is adding an annex to his office which
will offer spa treatments. It’s a new way to lower blood pressure and other health benefits too.
It’s good to see you here, aFrank. Hope all has been well with you and yours. I’ve just gotten back on the blog horse. I was thrown
off for awhile by recent Hurricane Irma. I’ve started writing about my experiences and the trauma but it’s too soon for me to post.
Thanks for visiting and commenting.
Isadora 😎
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November 7, 2017 at 12:05 pm
All well here. Currently posting about our September trip cruising the British Isles. 🙂
Dealing with Hurricane Irma is more important than blogging. Glad you’ve recorded your thoughts (to be displayed later). After all, that’s something that many of us can’t imagine.
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November 7, 2017 at 12:53 am
Issy, I’m just laughing here. Thanks for that. I hope it looked good when he was done. I think they do the payment before the nails so you don’t smear the polish, which takes forever to dry hard enough for real life. 😉
janet
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November 7, 2017 at 4:30 am
I’m glad I got some laughter to go along with mine, Janet. My mom owned a beauty salon. I knew about the money exchanges
before the nail polish. Her salon was loud with laughter and conversation. I never get my hair done at a salon since my hair
is curly. But, I do like a good massage and pedicures and maicures. My friend tried this new salon and recommended it.
I was completely satisfied with the way my nails turned out but I enjoy a nice dialog too. I’ll be going back to my old salon.
Happy you enjoyed my experience. 😎
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November 6, 2017 at 10:14 pm
Relaxing and unnerving I would think. Would you go back is the question??
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November 7, 2017 at 4:13 am
I don’t think I’ll go back to that salon. I enjoy chatting and this felt like prison. But, my nails looked good. 😄
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November 7, 2017 at 4:14 am
So long as there was a positive from it all 😀
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November 6, 2017 at 8:37 pm
I’ve had a similar experience wondering if it was the relaxing experience I had in mind! 🙂
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November 7, 2017 at 4:17 am
My friend forgot to mention their English wasn’t intelligible. I felt awful asking them to repeat what they were saying. Oh well … my nails looked great though. : )
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