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Happy Endings and Apps

Once again, the dancing bear can sit still no longer. (Me.) I was going to let it go, until a client of mine, an ER MD who works in countries around the world poked me about this topic as she often does, in regards to the massage industry’s reactionary behavior on issues of little matter. This is in regards to the Siri App and happy endings. Continued below….

Yet again, similar to last years focus on The View (or was it this years focus?) and comments made in regards to massage, we, as massage therapists, have allowed yet another ‘shinny new object’ to snatch our attention away from issues that truly matter, and focus it on something that doesn’t need more attention, similar to a 5 year old child at Christmas who didn’t get the toy s/he wanted, thus having a tantrum.

I’m quite familiar with happy endings and the massage industry; I’m located in Las Vegas. If people choose to ‘speak’ happy ending into a program or Google it, then they are seeking happy endings, not legit massage, right? Thus, why are YOU concerned if you are a legit therapist? Ohhhhh, I get it, you are concerned about your reputation, the industries reputation, bla, bla, bla.

What happened to this phrase, “BE the change you wish to SEE?” Ohhhh, I get it. YOU see the change you wish to see as constant wining, complaining, pissing and moaning, writing blog posts, writing Facebook posts, bla, bla, bla, about this App as change. Wrong. Here’s the treatment plan, and it works just dandy for me.

1) Sign your petition to Apple or whomever, write your congress wo/man, pray to God, Buddha or Mohammed, etc., et. All, get AMTA or ABMP or whoever to do something, and be done with it!

2) Quickly redirect your attention to what truly matters, your massage business. Attracting and taking care of existing clients, and improving your own relationship and massage skills in whatever it is that you do.

If, for some delusional reason, you think you can split your attention between truly improving your massage business situation, whatever that may be, and focusing on topics such as these, you are sadly mistaken.

All the ‘do-gooders’ out there can waste their time as they wish, just remember this: As you are sucked into the attention vacuum of frivolity, therapists like me are working on new client attracting methods, working on our client service skills, learning new massage modalities, etc., etc.

We wish you the best, and are truly grateful for your clients, those who have now switched to our services because we focus on them, not yet another ‘massage industry witch hunt’ into wasted time and resources.

Once again, thank you!

Now, I’m off to work on previously mentioned ER MD, and get further insight (her opinion of course) as to why massage therapy is viewed as the health and wellness industries ‘bottom of the barrel’ as opposed to the 'cream of the crop.'

Gee, and I wonder why….

Kris Kelley

Las Vegas Massage

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Comment by Las Vegas Massage In Summerlin on December 7, 2011 at 2:17pm: LOL!

Comment by Daniel Cohen on December 7, 2011 at 2:03pm: Hhhmmm ..... I thought this was about massage not your angelic status.

Comment by Las Vegas Massage In Summerlin on December 7, 2011 at 1:22pm: I could have certainly posted in a different manner, yet chose how I posted for a reason...

Most replies came in on Laura Allen's Facebook page if anyone cares to read them.

Yes, it's official, I'm The Devil.

Comment by Daniel Cohen on December 7, 2011 at 11:04am: Kris I agree with you. We as an industry are allowing pride and our own perceptions to interfere with just being what we want to be. The public and our clients wont understand the professional bruhah. At my place we are sometimes asked if we offer happy endings. We say no, that's not something we do here. They leave to ask somewhere else until they find what they are looking for. No big deal. The requests actually have decreased in recent years not because of a recognition of professionalism but because they can narrow down their searches on the internet. My objection to general search engine categories of "happy ending" is that they lump all massage together or at least those that advertise asian modalities. If they did a better job of screening the listings it would stop ordinary ending massage from being asked as often for the happy ending.
And don't think it is only men who ask. Women ask too. But confusion will exist until licensing is tiered 1) Medical Massage, 2) Wellness Massage, 3) Erotic Massage. I do not believe it should be licensed as prostitution. That should be reserved for massageless full service in my opinion.

Comment by Shawnda Kettles on December 7, 2011 at 10:13am: I enjoyed that. Your point of view will no doubt ruffle some feathers. I can't say that I agree with you absolutely, nor can I say that I disagree with you absolutely.

I can understand why some will choose to get up in arms. Sometimes it is frustrating to address people's assumptions about my "reasons" for being a massage therapist. I was recently challenged by such a person, about my career choice, when they said,......
"Come on. Be real. I'm quite sure when you were you were 5 years old and someone asked you what you wanted to be when you grew up, you didn't say that you wanted to be a massage therapist."....

To which I replied,..... "When I was 5 years old, I wanted to be a princess and marry my grandaddy because he was so funny, let me drive the tractor, and was married to my grandma, who made great cookies! I became a massage therapist because I saw a need, for people like my young daughter, who suffer with chronic pain, and wanted to do my part in helping them to feel better about themselves and their condition and help them to have as many pain free days as possible. That's why I switched careers and began to do this. Not because I love sex so much, that I needed to disguise it and secretly be paid for it. There's a profession for that called prostitution and escorting."

Normally, I find that not everyone is being sarcastic or disrespectful about it, they are merely repaeting things they have heard, seen on tv, or they have read about the 'worst-case scenerios' in some magazine or book. I have come across those that understand that there are 'the other therapist' out there that can make it hard for the real ones, so I completely understand why some people can become so irritated by it. Me, personally, I take it on a case by case situation but will support my industry as much as I can.