White lies: 02 (London)

I recently told a white lie to instant effect, so I shall go and cook up a few more for later use.

    I’d been going to treat (with massage and Long G [Longevitology energy adjustment]) a friend’s mother who was in great pain from a bad back that just erupted out of the blue — no carrying or lifting of heavy things, no sudden movements or reaching into impossible corners / heights.  She also had other, recurring pains: frequent cramps in the leg, pain in the ankles and area near the toes.

    Being Chinese, the mother was keen to ensure I did not go hungry, especially since I was going to her daily in the first week (journey each way of at least 1.5 hours), staying for three hours, treating her from neck to feet, with massage and Long G energy adjustment.

    As soon as I arrived, she’d bombard me with a string of offerings of food and drink, switching to a new item when I said no to one.  It didn’t matter how many times I’d said, “I’m here for healing, not for eating,” maybe because the Chinese have to play this game of host-vs-guest behaviour: 

• as a host, you pile on the generosity and the number of times (at least three, if not five) you hassle your guest, because you mustn’t be seen to be mean or insincere — I don’t know where they get the energy from for such pester power;

• as a guest, you say no even if you were starving to death or dying of thirst, as you must not be seen to be greedy.

    And so the game would get played out every time I arrived at the door to treat this lady — well, on her part anyway.  

    Being me, I decided to tell her after Day 1:  “When I say no, I mean it, so let’s not go through this again, OK?  I mean what I say.  I’m here for the healing, not to eat.  Thank you for the kind thought all the same.”  

    I did say yes to water the moment I arrived, because it’s essential for the Long G treatment, flushing out the toxins that Long G digs out (even for the adjuster).  I drew her attention to this, saying it was evidence that I don’t play the over-politeness game.

    Sometimes, I’d give in, just to stop the flow of nagging, which, in hindsight, was a mistake because it must’ve been seen to be insincerity on my part when I said no on other occasions, e.g., by accepting one ginger snap biscuit, I was confirming her suspicions that I was not sincere in my initially declining.  

    Oh, it’s such a complicated game!  I was never good at it, anyway, even when I was younger, never mind now with less energy to go through the ritual.

    One day, however, I discovered quite by chance how to put a stop to all this in an instant.

    Having discovered that her offer of ginger snap biscuits went down well (mistake on my part, saying yes to one ginger snap biscuit, then saying it was delicious [what else could I have said — that it was horrible?!?]), she then produced two whole packs of the stuff on my next visit for me to take home with me, since I wouldn’t stay for dinner.

    I happened, on that day, to be going on to somewhere else to buy, then deliver, some food items.  (I do food shopping for some old people, as they can’t carry heavy things like apples and pears.)  I was, therefore, very adamant that I wasn’t going to accept the two packs of ginger snaps.  She immediately acquiesced.  Oh!  That did the trick, telling her I couldn’t carry any more stuff (even though they’re actually not that heavy, which is where the white lie bit comes in)!  

    I went away feeling very pleased with myself for having found a good white lie.  

    Not for long, though — she remembered the next time: out came the ginger snaps, making their way into my bag.  

    At least it was just one pack this time.  

    And she did forget about the second pack the next time, so it’s a 1:1 on this.

(London, 2024)

(Longevitology.org.uk)