DISASTER AT THE SPA (A/K/A AN UNEXPECTED VISIT FROM EURUS)

Who doesn't like a trip to the spa?  Probably the same people who don't like puppies.  Or chocolate ice cream. 

Spas are serene oases where we go, legally and without shame, and pay someone to make us feel like gods and goddesses.  Tranquil places where we leave looking like overcooked spaghetti, and are grateful for it.  

Having three sisters, spas loom large in my life.  Duncan would say too large, but never audibly, for fear of bodily harm.  Justifiable bodily harm.  Before any jury, anywhere. 

But a trip to the spa can be stressful.  Like today.  I got stuck in traffic behind a parade (not just traffic, but full-on parade traffic), and arrived with my hair on fire.  I missed the ever-so-wonderfully warm, aroma-therapeutic neck wrap.  

Then, as I settled onto the massage table, face down, tucked snuggly under the luxurious linens and cozy silk blankets, disaster hit.  I had an unexpected visit from Eurus, the god of wind.  Not just wind, but unlucky wind.  The kind of wind you never want to experience in a small, enclosed room with a complete stranger.

Panic set in.  Should I re-robe and take leave to the ladies' room?  Should I let nature take its course and hope that the covers were impermeable?  As my mind ran through the options, a young lady (no doubt with an acute sense of smell) knocked demurely on the door and entered the room.  I was stuck.  For a full hour.  I clenched everything, from head to toe, and wondered what would happen if I fell asleep.  Perhaps sleep was the answer, because then any indiscretion would be considered involuntary and therefore blameless.  I was still debating the ethics of the situation when the masseuse reached my feet.  Halfway done, but still no resolution. 

Lying there, I realized that Eurus tends to show up at the most inopportune times.  But in most situations, the guilty party has at least some chance of avoiding attribution.  Often, incrimination can be deflected onto some other poor soul who's already physically engulfed in the problem you created.  

In my current predicament, however, there were only two people in the room, and one was being paid, so she couldn't bolt.  I just couldn't do that to her.

So there I lay until the hour was up.  A perfectly good massage ruined.  But my dignity was intact, and I had learned an important lesson.  Amidst embracing ordinary moments that make life extraordinary, each of us still needs to have good manners.   Especially when Eurus visits.