People

It's amazing how powerful smells are for recollecting memories. I once bought a hair wax (I know, what will they think of next?) that smelled exactly like a cheap waxy pink Holly Hobby little girl's makeup kit I had when I was really little. It was my first ever makeup, given to me as a gift - I doubt this went over well with my parents. I used shyly play wih it in the corner and pretend that I was a very stylish lady.

Every time I open that hair wax container now I am transported immediately to the land of five year olds, to the land of pink ribbons, perfect skin and a tiny perspective on the world. I am transported back to a time when I didn't know feminism, terrorism, sarcasm, cubism, agism or any other ism for that matter. It's a smell that reminds me of innocence.

Really, I could just sit here with my nose in that hair wax for hours. Who knew hairstyling could send you so far back in time?

After feeling slightly apprehensive about the thought of being tickled intentionally I bit the bullet and had pedicure. I went to a trendy salon I had considered trying before in a nice part of town. It looked clean and was always packed when I walked by. That seemed like a good sign.

They do a bunch of things to your feet which involve various files and clippers. I had heard that this was a way to catch a fungus, but I didn't know if that was true. At one point the bashful asian girl working on my feet used a file which looked like it had some (fingernail) dust on it... I found this a bit alarming, since their website said they threw out all files between uses. I remember having a split second where I felt a flash of concern and then I told myself: they are professionals. Surely they know what they are doing.

Then, partway through the pedicure, the girl clipped my cuticle so closely on the right big toe that it started bleeding. That's when I really started to wonder... The pedicurist was very quiet about it, carefully dabbing it clean and making a face. (Perhaps not to alarm the other customers? ) Being in a trusting mood that day I let her carry on, since my feet were very dry and were partway through the treatment. Plus she had sprayed the clippers beforehand. It didn't hurt, and they were professionals, so who was I to question it? When I was done I produced my wallet and left a healthy tip (mainly out of habit.)

Later, I found myself with some creeping feelings... Remembering that the tools had come out of an unsealed open container... Thinking about how they added pumice paste to a big buffer after using it on my foot -- touching the spatula to the implement which was covered in my skin cells, then putting it back in the jar to be used again and again. I wondered, how many toes had those clippers touched before they nicked my feet? Was spraying sufficient to kill most disease? Did I subject my body to unnecessary risk?

I felt fairly calm, but I had this nagging concern -- so I went in search of answers. The first thing I did was call my dad, who is a medical doctor. He said something to the effect of "WHAT WERE YOU THINKING?!?! WHY DID YOU GET A PEDICURE??!?! THOSE PEOPLE DON'T KNOW WHAT THEY'RE DOING!!! DON'T YOU EVER DO IT AGAIN!!!" and used a few expletives which I won't repeat here. He also told me that spraying wasn't sufficient to kill much of anything, and that the girl must have been incompetent to cause bleeding.

Now, I have to tell you. My dad is normally a very reasonable man. Especially about body issues. If I call him feeling like I'm on the verge of expiration he is excellent at talking me out of blowing it out of proportion. He doesn't jump on any instant bandwagons and is a very critical thinker, always promoting logic and scientific reasoning. But the way he reacted that day I might as well have told him that I was pregnant and I was seeing a metaphysical healer who was giving me mercury capsules to promote good health.

Needless to say that didn't help settle my uneasiness.

A casual google search unearthed countless stories full of quotes from podiatrists and dermatologists regarding the dark side of pedicures... It's hard to tell how much of it to take with a grain of salt. One such story appeared 4 days ago and featured a lady who almost lost her toe after it was nicked while having her cuticles cut. In August pedicure safety legislation was proposed in California. And of course, how could I neglect to mention the (somewhat sensationalist-sounding) book "Death by Pedicure". I have no idea if this book is sound science, but the fact that it exists at all makes me wonder. There is also the story of one shop where about 100 women caught some horrible disfiguring disease and ended up in court. The same disease later struck another 75 pedicure recipients in California.

Naturally, I had to go back to the source. I phoned the nail place and and asked about the hygiene practices. The boss-lady with a heavy asian accent reassured me that "oh, we spray everything." Feeling concerned I pressed her some more. That didn't help so asked her directly if they soak their implements. She said that they did. I asked her how often, and she said every day. I felt a bit better after that... but... She did say more than once "If anything happens, you call me!" which seems to suggest that something, in fact, COULD happen. And that she may even expect it to.

I actually question the truthfulness of what she said -- because I had to prompt her. I mean, if the true answer is "no we don't soak things to sterilize them" she obviously wouldn't say so. She probably knows the health department would storm her shop immediately if they found out. The fact that she didn't offer up this detail on her website, at her nail shop, or when I first asked her about hygene without being specific seems less than ideal.

At least, it seems especially odd after going to a body-mod shop recently. The staff there explained exactly how they autoclave everything, soak everything, seal everything -- without prompting. They even have a video explaining it on their website. Clearly they know this is a big selling point. Wouldn't a posh nail place in a rich part of town want to work the same angle? Isn't that just good marketing?

Perhaps the overwhelming desire to be attractive is where safety falls by the wayside. After all, the mainstream accepts certain things which are slightly questionable for our health. Things such as high heeled shoes, hair dye, tanning beds, Accutane, and teeth bleaching. I am however extremely relieved that I don't have to deal with old school things like corsets, toe-binding, neck rings and skull shaping.

In any case I don't think I'll go back to to get a pedicure -- at least not there. Maybe never. My feet do look lovelier than before, and my toes are a lovely shade of delightful shimmery taupey pink... but perhaps in the future I can live with my regular unglamorous feet.

So the question is: has this happened to anybody else? And are there safer pedicure places to go?

Somebody just buzzed the front door of my apartment. The conversation went something like this:

A: Hello?
?: Let me in!
A: Hello???
?: Let me IN!!!!!
A: Who is this?
?: It's me !
A: I'm sorry, who are you?
?: It's your LOVER !
A: I'm sorry???
?: It's your Meeexican Looooover here...
A: I'm sorry?!?!
?: You know: your HOT Mexican Loooover!
A: Uhm, i think you must have the wrong suite number... Who are you looking for?
?: Anna Mariaaaaaaaa!
A: ?!?!?!
?: ...
A: I really think you must have pressed the wrong number..!
?: !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
?: !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
?: !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
?: HA HA HA HA HA HA
?: Okay!... bye!
A: ... Uhm... good luck!!!

For a minute I thought perhaps it was my friend Keith G playing a ridiculous joke on me -- as he likes to make crazy phone voices when he calls people. But this guy really sounded like he meant business. He had an extremely sincere suggestive tone of voice. It seemed pretty clear that he thought he was talking to his hot girlfriend and they were about to get it on, and that my refusal to let him in was some kind of crazy role-play gag!

So I guess someone in my building is getting a good shag right now. At least I hope so.

I was inspired by my friend Gill's Haiku from a couple nights ago. I thought I'd share mine with you:

Sometimes I make wind
I mean to keep it discreet
A sigh from my bum


I like hers better.

Currently: sitting awake in bed with my iBook roasting my lap
Album Progress: need to make some calculations...
Beverage of choice: still green tea!
Listening to: Zero 7's new album "The Garden"
Most covet: a pair of divine boots from Fluevog... oh and a new Macbook Pro
Current favourite snack: yummy leftovers
Wish I was a: morning person
Favourite hobby: talking to the cats
Last great book: Photography Basics
Wish I didn't: have dustbunnies next to the bed...