Necessary Luxuries

At a time when politicians and car insurance commercials are waxing nostalgic for a simpler era, I don’t see how anyone could justify paying money for a human function. I could have walked two blocks and one avenue down to Central Park and passed out for free.

West side salon Yelo, specializes in relaxation and reflexology. I was taken to a sleep pod where an anti-gravity chair awaited. Music pumped into the pod and my choice of scent was sprayed in the air: relax, detox, sleep, or energize. I added a ten-minute reflexology massage to twenty minutes of napping for $40.

Calling it a birthday experiment for myself, I sat in my anti-gravity chair, inhaling lavender oil under my nose with the skepticism of a scientist testing a Ouiji board.

I can’t believe I’m doing this. Why the hell am I doing this?

The masseuse started to rub my neck and shoulders. Tension I didn’t know I’d been carrying melted away. I breathed deeper.

Maybe this isn’t so bad...

“Hi, Carly. Time to get up!” my masseuse told me. She’d left the room twenty minutes earlier, and I had fallen asleep. I tried to account my sleepiness to three straight days of late nights followed by early mornings, but the anti-gravity chair probably didn’t hurt. I can’t say I’ll be a regular customer, but indulgence in moderation isn’t all that bad, is it?

-Carly Okyle