February 23, 2009

A Friend We Haven't Met Yet


Back around October I injured my left shoulder. The only thing I can figure out is one day when I was putting up my treadmill it slipped a little and maybe that’s what happened. Sometimes it’s hard to tell how an injury happens.

I tried muscle relaxers but they just made me want to sleep all the time. Pain pills just mask the problem and when the medicine wears off the hurt is still there.

I finally decided to go to a masseur who also does acupressure and acupunture. He’s really good but I’m very ticklish and at one point I was giggling, he was laughing and I almost rolled off the table before he caught me.

According to Yeong being very ticklish is the sign of a good person.

After much massaging and laughing we had a cup of red ginseng tea and talked like old friends. I’m a little tough to understand sometimes because of my thick Okie accent, but we muddled through.

My shoulder seems to be healed but he told me if the acupressure didn’t work to come back and he’d try acupunture on me.

Yeong visited a few states and decided he prefers Oklahoma because we are kinder here. I remember right after the Murrah bombing people who came here from other areas commented on how friendly Oklahomans are. I take it for granted unless I visit another state, try to talk to people and remember I’m not in Oklahoma anymore and not everyone talks to strangers. Arkansas and Texas are close enough they are used to our idiosyncrasies, but travel too much further in any direction and they look at us like “I don’t know you.”

We wave at everyone even the neighbors we don’t like. I’m not sure why we are friendlier than other states. Maybe we have to try harder because of our crazy weather or because we don’t have as many people. I don’t honestly know, but if you come to Oklahoma don’t be surprised when you stand in line if you get in the middle of a conversation with the young tattooed woman in front of you and the senior citizen behind you about the price of gas or the new stop light they installed.

In Oklahoma there’s no such thing as a stranger. You’re just a friend we haven’t met yet.