How is it…. (4)

It is now 22 years ago that I met the Thai T. We lived together for 10 years and with her I have a 20-year-old son who has been living with me for 9 years now. With a clear conscience I can say that with her nothing is (still) what it seems. Read the story of Lung Ruud.

Voriginal keer told ik all that ik about this de second keer in de massage parlour at T was. The massage to happen walked af according to the pattern that ik even knew of de previous keer. Ik expectant REQUIRE, stretched out, correct, kneaded, ge– and twisted, bent and massaged. 

It was already getting close to the end of the hour and T asked me to turn around. Suddenly she started nibbling my ear and sniffing me. Later I read and heard that Thais find that Farang smell a bit different because of the dairy products they use. Wild did they notice that? It made me laugh a little. 

Suddenly she started crying, geez did I say or do something wrong, it was my laughter been? No, no, no, she cried because she was happy to see me again and because she loved her son so missed and also her father and mother, sisters and the rest. Yes, I get that, but you're here yourself come? Yes that was so said T, but have no choice to earn money. You know in Thailand no work, no income. Cannot take care for family and son. I eldest daughter, have to, no choice. But you do don't understand.

To be honest, I felt some anger bubbling up inside me. Of coursejI occasionally had read about the respectt that Thai have for their parents and the obligation to the family to support. I had just never come into direct contact with it as it happened now through the story of T. 

Would no one in that country then think or sympathize with what that did to the person who is abroad and who earned money there with difficulty that could then be spent by the family? I thought it was unfair and didn't know if I was helping her by paying for it to go for a massage or not.

It gave a feeling of injustice and I just couldn't handle it well. On the other hand, I didn't want to be involved, but had already become unwilling. Meanwhile, T sobbed uncontrollable, but controlled by and the massage had stopped. Gosh, I did again, here I came not for. 

In between sobs, the towel slipped off her…... For several reasons and also because of the earlier dilemmas evoked by and to myself, it seemed sensible to me now het keep your head up. I thought she was too fragile and didn't want to get an STD. I knew barely her and actually thought it was all getting pretty close. But some tears kissing away couldn't hurtd, after all, she needed to be comforted. 

T told me never to kiss a costumer and that she would eicouldn't seem to give an attitude anymore. She said sorry and my shame for myself 5 times. Well, that's why I liked it how embarrassing and also said sorry tegen hair. Oh no problem, my mistake, so T. 

VShe could have just won an acting oeuvre award for that act, I thought a long time later, that's how credible it seemed to me. 

She dried her tears, blew her nose and asked in a small voice “you want to stay some longer time”, a sign that het hour for which I paid. I pretended to think, muttered something about work to do, but was already over and stayed half an hour longer. I gave it to her money for that half hour and she went downstairs - wrapped in the towel - for more na-am for to fetch me and to themgthat I still stayed and hand over the money. 

T resurfaced and continued with the head massage. Meanwhile she sighed heavily and repeated that she hadn't seen her son in so long and missed him so much and hoped she would could visit very soon, sigh…. Her father was also sick, sigh….... 

Frankly, I started to regret my visit to a Thai massage parlor a little. It turned out completely different than I imagined. I also didn't know how to give myself a good attitude anymore and I was very uncomfortable. 

What a hassle, I came to relax and unwind and this visit certainly didn't leave the same feeling as the first, annoying. Hthe half added hour was also almost over and T asked me to take a shower and went into another room under the shower. 

In the shower I decided to give her something extra and thus take some of my “guilt” away to buy. T came back from the shower while I was getting dressed. She still appeared gutted and sniffed a bit. I thought it was especially sad, sad that T-dhadn't seen her son, who lived with grandpa and grandma for so long, and gave her 25 guilders extra for her son or a contribution to a airline ticket. She was very happy with it and I was promoted to sweet man. That felt Good. 

I couldn't remember. On the one hand I thought get out of here, trouble is waiting on the other hand I didn't think it was a good idea to leave her like that. How and why? I felt sorry for her. Only in a country of which you hardly know the language. Where you had to work in a Thai restaurant and in a Thai massage parlour. 

I, who had learned that every problem is a challenge and found basaaldate the best she could back go to village, child and family in Thailand. Naive, but it would turn out. Meanwhile wash I was figuring out how to go about it as I zipped up the jacket of my tracksuit, when there was a soft knock on the door and a woman's voice called her name softly a few times. She responded immediately and said a bit nervously “you have to go, time is almost over”. Boss angry with me, or do you want to stay more time. 

I immediately thought sarcastically to myself, yes Mama-San will have to go to the casino again and therefore insist if I wanted to stay longer, bitch….. Because this time too I had floor where the other massage rooms were heard nothing. 

No I ha lot of work to do, but do you have paper and a pencil? Why you want, asked T, I want to wright my phone number down. She took a piece of paper from her toiletry bag and a pen and wrote down my name and cell phone number. And said, you can call me if you want to talk. Oh, that was hard, because I knew she had to work a lot, including in the restaurant and that she had very little time left. She also had a full head, she said. You better come back to here. I decided to keep my back straight and said “I don't think so, I don't feel comfortable with the situation, you know?” Oh sorry, sorry, I tell you to many problems, sorry, I understand.

In any case, I had planned not to go to the massage parlor anymore and actually thought a bit sanctimonious, I don't hear anything about that anymore.