Hi! THis group was a great idea. I have a good one to get us started. I have been working on one of my clients for many years. On occasion it can get somewhat routine in the sessions. She knows when to turn over, etc. About a month ago, it came time for her to flip from her back to her belly, well I hadn't straightend out the drape yet, or grabbed it. So when she did turn over the sheet went with her and she was laying there on the table with her butt hanging out.(maybe I should have used glutes). I think I was more embarrassed than she was though, she just calmly stated, "Well, sorry you had to see my 67 year old ass!" I got her covered back up within seconds and continued the massage like nothing happened. Now she definitely waits until I tell her to turn over.

Thank you! This is exactly what I'm talking about! Only massage therapists get what we go through! Keep them coming!

My most recent blooper was last Friday. I have a client who comes twice per month, she is a wonder LOL and I've been massage her for years. My Blackberry has a repeater on the calender and I discovered her appointment has run out last time. OOPPS! She was very understanding and said it was OK. I will now be more vigilant.

This should be great!
Blooper number one (got me twice) I was burning a tea candle that was almost gone. Everything was fine when I stepped out for my very nervous first time massage client. She got undressed and on the table and when I walked back in the tea candle was shooting a flame to the ceiling!!! the aluminium caught fire!!! Without yelling fire I grabbed a ceramic bowl and drop the burning candle in it and covered it with a piece of nearby tile... the client never knew! YIKES. A few years later and apparently not any smarter the same thing happened. I was in the room this time, working with my head down and I heard the fire alarm go off (in the room) and when I looked up YIKES again. I handled it a similar way - good thing the second client knew me very well and was okay with me putting a pillow over her ears... Candles, especially tea candles are no longer a part of my practise.

Welcome all new members! We are glad to have you here and willing to share your "Bloopers!" with us! I'm almost wishing for one lately so I can post it on here!:)

As an ceu instructor, I often hear very funny stories from my therapist students. One therapist was working on her client's foot when a fake ficus in the corner of the room by the head of the table just plopped over and fell on the client.

Another therapist dropped chewing gum on his client's back (so THAT's why we shouldn't chew gum!!!).

I have been sweat upon by a nervous student. I have had students drop glops of cream on a client's back while standing up on the table. It looks like bird droppings and even makes a funny sound when it lands!

Once I was doing a house call while my client was getting caught up on her recorded shows. She used to watch The Sopranos, Deadwood, etc. NOT massage enriching shows! The TV was a huge flat screen mounted on the wall.

Once I got sucked into watching The Sopranos (the TV was huge, don't forget, and the room was dark ;0 ) while I was working on her and someone got shot.

I wasn't expecting it and jumped about a foot, lost contact and then tried to play it cool. Ha-I'm sure she knew exactly what happened! It was a bit embarrassing...

Speaking of client house calls... I just remembered one. I was getting low on the lotion and had to shake the bottle. Well....I ended up clobbering the back of the client's head and flung lotion all over the room. She just chuckled and kept on chucking as I went around the room trying to remove lotion from the walls and ceiling! And yet, she kept calling me for repeat visits!

Rosmary's story reminded me one of mine- I am from Israel and it is very hard for us to hear, and let alone pronounce the subtle difference between the "i" sound and the "ee" sound, for example the word Sheep will be pronounced same as Ship by any good old Israeli.
So here I was, teaching my first class of students, and when it was time for hands on I calmly asked them to please put their "s***" on the table....


(get it? /s***/Sheet)

Bloopers also have a very serious side - there are some things/situations therapists create that could leave a client scarred and leary of massage. Painfull pressure is a blooper. Sneezing on a clients back is a blooper. Think about it this way - have you ever worked on a client that is coming to you because of some thing another therapist did or didn't do? I ask new clients who have had previous massage experience to tell me what brought them to me and what drove them away from their previous therapist... Therapists who wouldn't shut up is the # 1 thing I hear. SO - chatter for chatters sake is a blooper! The difference is it just isn't funny.

Okay - too serious - back to the humor. One very busy day I was catching lunch on the fly and grabbed a handfull of almonds... the client showed up 5 minutes early and I had just crammed to many nuts in my mouth to articulate clearly.. after chewing for a moment or two more, I said: "I'm sorry I had my nuts in my mouth". Duh.

Rudy- CLASSIC! That one really got me going. And thank you for bringing up the fact that there are Bloopers/mistakes that can be damaging to us as well as clients. And that there are Bloopers/ funny-ha-ha that is the intent of this group. I appreciate the feed back. Keep it funny!