You've probably had an experience where you expect nothing special and something extraordinary occurs. Consider this. My darling sister and I were traveling together and she suggested that we could get mani/pedis in a small town 15 miles from where we were staying for a good price. Any of you who know me know that this is not something I would ordinarily think of, but what the hey, I was on vacation so I said, "let's do it."
We set out talking excitedly about all the wonderful things we had done on our trip to Kauai, the miles flew by and soon we were at our destination a very unremarkable looking nail salon. We plopped down in the lush massage chairs and punched the setting on the chair which made us look like we were doing a seated rhumba. I got assigned a rather severe looking woman who spoke very little English but was proficient if rather bored with her job. As she was doing a competent but uninspired massage to my toes, ankles and feet I glanced over at the man who was working on my sister. He was a perfect 3/4th scale model of a Buddhist monk. Clean-shaven with a sweet face and a very deferential manner---"K" was, by contrast, totally immersed in his work. He reverently touched my sister's leg. With his head bowed he loving and professionally embraced her foot starting his job. With each massage, he used a devotion usually reserved for newborns. T glanced at me in surprise then melted into her chair, closed her eyes and allowed the generosity of his spirit to fill the room. He slathered her with various potions, scrubbed her feet with brushes, rubbed and filed each toenail with exactitude. Each act was done in a way one expects of a Catholic priest at the Good Friday foot washing ceremony. I watched in awe, knowing how important and how justly deserving this was to T.
Next we moved to the hand area and again my efficient nail technician did a very dutiful job of applying the oils, massaging my hands and painting my nails. All the while in the next seat sat my sister, and K was applying tenderness and caring in each expert stroke. Then they were deep in conversation. I couldn't hear what they were saying but at one point, T said something and K's eyes began to blink rapidly and he excused himself and went into the lounge to collect himself. I couldn't imagine what had transpired and I looked over at her and she mouthed, "I'll tell you later."
Soon K came back and resumed his attention to T and their tete a tete. I meanwhile was finished with the mani/pedi and put out to dry under the lights. T came a bit later and we left for our drive back to the condo.
I said, "first of all, what a tremendous job he did on you, I was truly impressed!"
T said, "I feel like I've had a spiritual experience. I was hoping you weren't too envious but then I decided to just go with it."
I said, "I so admired his devotion and seriousness and how he approached each task."
T said, "you don't know the half of it. He is an artist."
Then I asked, "what happened in there?"
T answered, "He has only been in Kauai for ten days and this is his second day on the job. He's from Vietnam and when I heard this something prompted me to say: 'my mother traveled there and said it was such a beautiful country."
K said, "It is though not everyone feels that way and thank you for saying so."
Then T continued "I am so deeply sorry for what my country did to your country. And that's when K's eyes filled with tears and he had to leave the room. He came back and said,
K-"I've never had this reaction before."
We drove for miles in silence, each of us pondering the profound experience T had--- in a nail salon of all places. The world can be rich, deep, moving, reverent and meaningful even in mundane circumstances. What moves the world is connection and caring and in an ordinary nail salon on a Thursday in Kauai we found it that day.
susansmagicfeather copyright 2013 Susan R. Grout all rights reserved
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