No, I did not get a tuggy 💆‍♂️

I know we have all heard about the underground Asian massage parlors that offer "extra services". The one I am talking about today is not that kind of place. Green Spa is located inside of a shopping mall, albeit a pretty dead one. This is one of the best places around my area to go for a massage. The pricing is fair for here in the USA and they take walk-ins. That last part is really what works for me so well. I often find myself just needing a good massage all of a sudden.

I wrote about getting a shitty massage from a student at my local massage school a few weeks back. I am scheduled to get another one there in a few weeks, but I have a feeling it too will be nowhere as great as the massage that I received at Green Spa recently.

As many times as I have been to Green Spa, I pretty much have never had the same person massage me twice. The same can be said for my most recent visit. Some new lady was working and she had me set up and ready to go on a table in just a few minutes. The layout of this place is much more open than the private rooms that you may be used to. I'm somehow comfortable with being in my underwear in a room full of randoms. It is only for a moment anyway, most of the massage is spent with the majority of my body covered up. If you have never received a professional massage before, then this probably sounds weird. I promise that it isn't.

I could tell that this woman had been doing bodywork like this for many years. I didn't have to talk to her much at all and she knew exactly what I needed. She often would get up on the table with me just to get in the perfect position to apply the pressure that I needed in difficult areas. This is how it should be done.

I went in for 60 minutes of massage and ended up getting 90 minutes total. These Asian people are very intelligent and understand that their best time to make a sale is when their customer is already enjoying their service and halfway out of it thanks to the relaxation that the massage offers. Towards the end of my massage, I was asked if I wanted to add an additional 30 minutes and there was no way in hell I could say no. The same thing happened once before, except they brought in an additional masseuse to help and asked if I wanted to pay double to have two people work on me at once. I enjoyed the 5-minute teaser but had to say no to that one. One person is plenty for me.

After the massage, I felt light as a feather and totally rejuvenated. The lady used oil, hot stones/towels, and put in serious effort despite surely having already done several massages that day. I was very pleased with my massage and was prepared to leave a $10 tip to show my appreciation.

My only gripe comes from when I went up to the register to pay. I was told that if I was unable to pay cash, I would be charged a 5% fee on my card. Not taken, I'll remember next time. I was then asked if I wanted to leave a tip and added $10 on. The lady then proceeded to pull out a giant sign and point at some bold text that read 20% tip appreciated. I didn't have the desire to start doing exact math and figuring out how much she expected, but just the fact that she was telling me I should give her more kind of pissed me off.

I of course didn't rage on her and was still extremely thankful that she worked so hard on me. I understand that culture is vastly different across all of the earth. Where she is from it may be totally normal to ask for a certain tip, but part of me thinks she just does that to Americans who normally will just listen to her and give what she asks for. I stand my ground and do what I feel is right at the moment. I still ended up paying the woman $110 for a 90-minute massage. That is a bit more than the $1/minute cost that I am most comfortable paying. Hive account@eco-alex commented on my last massage post and told me massages in Thailand cost only a few dollars, so I already feel like I'm getting robbed. This is my fault for continuing to live in the USA though. Although many things are very over-priced here, we have so many modern conveniences that I have grown comfortable with.

I will still go back to Green Spa again soon, but I will remember to bring cash and quickly get out of the door before they can complain about my tip. It is impossible to deny that this place offers fantastic massages and is very convenient for me. I still am hopeful that maybe one of the massage students will be a savant of some sort and I'll start getting great massages there for only $45, but that is wishful thinking. Years of experience with massage will win over rolling the dice with a brand new student the vast majority of the time. Either way, my body is very thankful that I am finally forking over the cash to get massages once again.