An offer

[gaudior]

Several nights ago, well after midnight, our doorbell rang. I woke up from a sound sleep, and Lila and I looked at each other, confused and concerned-- who the hell would be ringing our doorbell at that hour of night? Was something wrong? It kept ringing, over and over, so it was obviously important. Apprehensively, I pulled on clothes and stumbled to the door.

Turned out to be our next-door neighbor-- the one in the apartment none of us own. I'd met him in passing, but it's not like I know him-- I don't think he knows my name. "Forgot my key," he muttered, and I suspect I glared death as I let him in.

The next morning, though, I found an envelope at the door, saying "Thanks for letting me in!" Inside it was a gift certificate for a nail salon.

On the one hand, I was charmed. It seemed to me perfectly appropriate to give your neighbor a gift when you've inconvenienced them, and my opinion of him was instantly restored. What a sweet thought!

On the other hand... nail salon. I hate the feeling of nail-polish, and (from how I feel about make-up) suspect I'd feel similar about most spa treatments. I'm guessing he thought, "this is a girl, girls like that sort of thing" or something similar. And I'm sure many girls do. It's just that neither I nor Lila are them.

But I don't want to give the thing back. I was quite annoyed when he woke me up, and I think he did just the right thing in giving me a thank-you/apology gift, so I don't want to discourage him from doing so. And the thing is, I could really use the money. I just can't use it on that.

So... offer. The gift certificate is to "Beauty Spa" on Mass Ave (www.beautyspacambridge.com), and in addition to nails they do facials, massages, aromatherapy, and other soothing beauty things. It's for $40, and I would really love to sell it to someone for $35. Because I could really, really, really use $35. And this is obviously something that someone-not-me would enjoy. (The place is very nice-- I went to see if they would give me a refund, but they have a no-refunds policy, and no-one there seemed to want to buy it.)

Any takers? (I assume someone in the Cambridge area is more likely to be able to use it-- this place is local, not a chain.)

--R

Reading: The Robber Bride, Margaret Atwood

Comments

[wherdragon.livejournal.com]

As I am no where near Cambridge, I'm afraid I can't take it, but I agree heartily with you that the man did the completely right thing (if a little misguided in execution).

[fiddledragon.livejournal.com]

Is there a date it must be used by? If not, or if it's reasonably far in the future, I'd be interested. Spas are one of those girly things that I've always been kind of tempted to try, and I'd been thinking of getting some sort of massage/random beauty treatment for myself as a graduation thing.

[gaudior.livejournal.com]

There's no expiration date, so I think it could be used in the far future.

I was awfully much hoping to get it off my hands within the next day or so-- would that work by you?

--R

[fiddledragon.livejournal.com]

I was actually planning on being in Cambridge tonight -- give me a call at 781-647-0357 :-)

[gaudior.livejournal.com]

I did, and left a message. Right now I am at eredien and raxs house-- call me at (edited to take my cell-phone number off the internet). (If not, Eredien says she can pass the thing to J.F. with whom you do Scottish Country Dancing, and you can get it that way.)

--R

[sovay]

Inside it was a gift certificate for a nail salon.

Fascinating. I can't take it off your hands, but I can definitely say I wouldn't have thought of it.

[zdenka]

According to their website, they offer the most exsquiste salon services! Not including proofreading, apparently. (Sorry, beauty salons are not my thing. Just here to be snarky.)

[fiddledragon.livejournal.com]

You can also have an "Herbal Body Warp"!

[faerieboots.livejournal.com]

FYI, salon services are a somewhat common business model for immigrants, because they involve a very universal skill and, in some ways, lower-than-average public relations. The person who designed that website may speak English as a second language.

And they do appear to be right near the Porter Exchange, according to their website.

Just sayin'.

[zdenka]

Okay, so, if I knew that someone was a non-fluent speaker of English, I wouldn't make fun of them and I wouldn't point out mistakes unless they asked me to.

However, I think it is fair to expect a professional business to have a professional appearance. Some of the links on the website are broken, which is just as unprofessional as typos. It really irritates me when people make mistakes that are easy to avoid because they don't pay attention or can't be bothered.

[wolfpilot06.livejournal.com]

Too bad I'm not in Cambridge anymore. :( Though I am going at the end of February! I'm a sucker for stuff like massages and spa-stuff. Groupon is the undoing of me.

On the other hand, a nice gesture from the guy, though I'd be annoyed as hell if that happened to me, too. Amazon Gift Certificate, guy; those are plenty useful.

**Wolf**

[thomasyan.livejournal.com]

Tangent: I think the closest I have come to using nail polish is when one of my eye glasses lost the finish on its ear pieces and cut into me. Clear nail polish helped smooth it over.

[papersky.livejournal.com]

Yes, me too. That's the only thing I use it for. Though I did once about twenty-five years ago do my nails black for Rocky Horror.

[faerieboots.livejournal.com]

I am both unable and unlikely to use this product, but think it is awesome that your neighbor did this! That's a super-generous gift for "thanks for letting me in when I forgot my key."

:)

Um, as far as people who might want the gift certificate...have you tried asking folks from HRSFA? That is also something rigel or tikva might appreciate, especially if the spa does massages.

[faerieboots.livejournal.com]

Oh! zebediah and cindy_lu also got massages a lot before their wedding. They might have a use for it.