Soothed feet, clean conscience_其他_趣味英语-查字典英语网

Soothed feet, clean conscience

If anything, foot massaging is less likely to morph into contact of the intimate kind than regular massaging because it involves only the body parts below the knees and is performed in the presence of other patrons, sometimes in big halls.

It so happens that I had a foot-massaging adventure in Zhangjiajie, which is where the latest brouhaha took place. After two days of trekking in the nearby scenic mountains, a group of us were guided - or goaded - to a place for a "free foot massage".

As soon as we made ourselves comfortable in a room arranged like a meeting hall, two dozen young men and women emerged, each holding a basin of water. They wore big smiles, and without hesitation, rolled up our pants and started rubbing.

Just as some of us were dozing off, a sharp-looking middle-aged man in a fancy suit jumped onto a small podium. He started to enumerate the countless benefits of some herbal medicine, or rather, diet supplement. God, he was eloquent! But nobody budged. We all wanted the freebie without the overpriced placebo.

Finally, someone said: "I'll buy one. I don't think we'll be let go without shelling out a single kuai."

Shouldn't local authorities, especially law enforcement, ensure such businesses avoid creeping into shady territory? Of course. They should not become the umbrella to shelter local businesses from anything unethical or illegal. That is the bottom line. But on the other hand, there is nothing wrong with maintaining a buddy-buddy relationship with those they tax and protect, and most of all, serve.