For those of you who don’t know, I get pretty bad headaches from mild scoliosis and uneven hips. I usually go to a chiropractor once a month to get adjusted and then I’m on my merry way. If I don’t get an adjustment for awhile I get bone-crushing, brain-numbing headaches. So, I’m in the market for a German chiropractor.
After a few google searches and phone calls, I made an appointment for this afternoon. The lady on the phone had said it was on the second floor and when I didn’t find them there, I remembered that the German second floor is actually the third floor (same as England). I climbed the next flight of stairs and into the correct office and as another woman was exiting she held the door open for me. “Danke!” I said, and felt so proud of myself for using one whole German word in real life. As soon as I walked in the door I was whisked away by a young woman to a small room surrounded by curtains on 3 sides and a window on the other, without so much as signing in on a clipboard.
“Do you speak English?” I asked.
She smiled shyly and said “A little…”
She then asks me where the problem is and I told her about my headaches.
She nodded and said, “Ok take off your shirt and lie down.”
Thinking I misunderstood her or that maybe she meant to say “take off your coat,” I smiled and said, “Do you mean ‘coat’?”
“Yes, your coat and your shirt.”
Dumbfounded I asked, “…and my bra?”
“No, of course leave your bra on.”
She left the room and I turned to stare out the window and process all this. Now, I’ve had many massages and I have no problem stripping down to my skivvies for a massage at the spa. But here in a different county, in a room that seemed more like a fitting room than a doctor’s office, I really started to question if I heard her right or even if I was at the right place.
I did as I (thought) I was told and took off my coat and shirt, leaving my bra on “of course” and got on the adjustment table. She returned, unhooked my bra, and as she started to rub oil on my back I began to wonder what kind of appointment I had actually booked. I’m not one to turn down a massage so I enjoyed my unexpected massage and 20 minutes later we were done and she left the room.
I stood up to look out my window again and wondered if the Chiropractor was going to come in now… I should definitely put my shirt back on, right? After a few minutes and no Chiropractor I wandered back into the lobby.
The woman had returned to the front desk and collected my cash. She really did speak only “a little” English and as I asked her about the adjustment part of the appointment I had to do a dramatic head twisting and a CRACK! sound for her to understand. “Ahhh, no… not that. I did … adjustment … after loosening the muscles.”
So that’s my story of going topless at the German chiropractor. I guess I will just have to see how I feel over the next week to make sure my headaches will stay gone for awhile. Not a bad way to be adjusted if it works! I did laugh out loud the majority of the drive home imagining her coming back in the room and yelling at me to put my clothes back on.
Oh, Germany, you have been fun so far! And tonight I start my German language class – wish me luck!
Have you been to a Chiropractor or Doctor in another country and had a funny experience?
I found my fave street vendor with a wicked handlebar mustache who only got slightly frustrated with me when I didn’t understand everything he was saying in German.
