I gave it two or three attempts. (could have been three).
The chair massage in malls is one of my favorite types of business. Instant satisfaction, great product and a reasonable price. 30 minutes of prompt gratification for $25 - $36 plus tip. Most of the attendants are foreign born Asians, not necessarily English speaking but proudly well trained in the popular Chinese acupressure and massage techniques. After enough sessions, you learn the routine and know just what to expect.
The common experience is great with a culture of workers who compete for customers and are eager to show you their massage skill at just the pressure you prefer. It is easy to get lost in the careful attention and sometimes doze off even in a busy mall. The other shoppers just fade away from conscientiousness. When your session is over, they patiently help you out of the chair, get you a drink of water, and graciously bow after you sign the ticket and leave a $5 tip. I go out of my way to visit those particular locations. Grapevine, Collin Creek - Excellent. Galleria very good...
This particular store served me three things that ruin the experience and make me wish I had used my time otherwise. Distracting environs, inattentive quality and scorn instead of gratitude.
The biggest guy there sat me down and immediately started to chatter to the other techs. Usually they have some type of business to finish after landing a customer and this goes away. As it continued into the minutes I politely leaned up and let him and the people he was talking to know it was distracting. That usually sends the message. He patted me on the back chuckled and went right back to talking. not a whisper. louder than before. Now; I am sure we sound different to a Chinese native speaker also but this loud, sing song, animated banter in my ear that restarted every 5 minutes made it impossible to relax.
As mentioned, you begin to learn the techniques if you visit chair massage on a regular basis. This man knew all of the techniques well as he completely laid waste to the detail and care that the training gave him. "Going though the motions" is far to generous for those motions. You could tell just how tall this guy was and which hand was dominant by the exact height and the side he rubbed on. The lazy masseurs will sometimes rub a sore in your shoulder blade as they lean on you swaying for the majority of the session instead of executing the steps of a proper massage. It takes effort to perform the craft and work up to the head / neck and down to the lower back. That's why it's a Dollar per minute.
Skip to the end. After I signed my ticket with his eagle eye upon my hesitant, gratuity deciding fingers, he looked up at me and stared without a word - at all. I smiled timidly, nodded yes, felt the utter shame of wasting his precious time and walked away.
You may guess that I am not really timid but I am polite and kindly give sad people the opportunity to realize they are the opposite, wake up, turn around and be kind too. This guy probably won't have to worry about me tipping after a crappy job anymore.
(Thank you for reading this long narrative. It is my hope that the business will see this as careful description of what occurred and not simply a rant) read more