The End of the Story.

I watched the situation develop. Dolores, a longtime friend of ours was introduced to the other dinner guests as a practitioner of Reflexology – a technique for massaging special areas on the bottom of the feet that are supposed to have a specific healing effect; I suppose there is a connection to acupuncture of acupressure. Andy, who is a great raconteur and has an engaging and very outgoing Type A personality, started to tell a story about a cruise experience he had had. Since he accurately specify the date, I could tell what the reference was going to be. I watched Delores react- she was clearly guarded, her body language was quiet reserved, she was somewhat defensive and closed. Andy described the pleasure of the foot massage, and then he said the reflexologist asked him if he had heart problems, he said no. The massage proceeded. Dolores became more guarded and intensely watched Andy, her body language became louder. A little later the masseur again asked him if he had any heart problems, Andy became a bit indignant. Dolores glared! Near the end of massage the man again brought up the subject of a heart condition. Dolores became agitated, hardly able to stay seated! Andy described his annoyance in some detail. As she listened to the evolving story, Delores became more tense excited and more guarded. She had heard this before, pseudo-science her husband labeled it and so had a lot of other people. She knew what to expect – the “diagnosis by the masseuse was balderdash!” and she was ready to counter his demeaning and derogatory comments with her own experience. Then, Andy continued his story, he told us about the appointment with his doctor that was scheduled for a month or so after the cruise. The doctor initiated a series of tests and found blocked arteries – he was hospitalized and had a quadruple bypass. The Reflexologist was prescient; perhaps there was something to this arcane massage form after all. Dolores didn’t say a thing but her body language again spoke volumes as she relaxed and cooled. I didn’t watch to see if she looked at Dan, her husband, but I’m certain she must have. What a delight to be able to watch the emotions evolve, especially since I knew the end of the story. Two days later I saw a book titled Reflexology for Dummies in the checkout line at the supermarket – perhaps I should have bought it!