On Saturday afternoon, J and I went to a spa to have our nails done. This was like one of those corny movies where people are transplanted from their normal day-to-day lives into something completely foreign and bizarre. We embarked upon this strange adventure because we were given gift certificates as a Christmas gift. We looked on the spa's website and discovered that the least expensive thing on the menu was a manicure for sixty-five dollars. The certificates were for fifty apiece, so we got our nails done for fifteen dollars each (plus tip, which was more than the thirty dollars). And frankly, even with the gift certificates, this still strikes me as ridiculous money to spend on something so silly. But when I try to imagine people paying 130$ for two manicures, I have trouble envisioning the people who do this.
I expected the spa to be filled with rich looking women with fake tans and fake boobs and collagen lips, but it wasn't. Surprisingly, there were a lot of overweight and ordinary women hanging out in sweatpants and flip flops. Apparently my mental picture of what money looks like is inaccurate.
Anyway, the experience wasn't worth $130, and it wasn't worth $30 either. It was boring. Even J, who is easily impressed, wasn't especially impressed. If this is the life of the rich, I don't envy them.
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I am reading Eleanor & Park, which is a painful read. Evocative, I suppose, of falling in love when one is sixteen and helpless and at the mercy of unreasonable adults. When one has no real say in what happens in one's life, when one is vulnerable to the whims of angry adults embroiled in their own painful dramas. Things like that. Things in some ways best forgotten. But I appreciate the memories that help me keep J in perspective, and help me remember how it feels to be young like that, so ready in some ways for the adult world and adult decisions, and still so innocent and fragile. I will do better for her.
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2 comments:
I have never gotten a manicure - for that money, I'd rather get a massage.
Massages at this crazy place started at $135 for 50 minutes. And there were people hanging around in the "lounge" in bath robes; both genders. I felt like I'd accidentally wandered in a swingers party. I wouldn't take $135 for a massage at this particular place! But in general, definitely a better return on investment.
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