After living in Beijing for two years, my sister introduced me to Chinese massage. These massage places are always in a nondescript, run-down shopping strip. These are not the million-dollar spas most women frequent with the plush robes and slippers. These are bare-bones, one-towel-to-cover-you-up, sketchy, doesn't-follow-US-laws-and-regulations-type places. But after my first Chinese massage, it’s the only type of massage I’ll get now. Those ladies will climb up on top of you to dig out the knots in your back if they need to. The massage rooms even have rails above the tables so they can walk on your back. They have no shame and little care about your modesty, but it is so worth it when your sore muscles melt. As I laid on the massage table today, she asked me if I wanted hard or soft pressure. “As hard as you need to get the knots out,” I replied. As she massaged my back, it hurt so good, and my whole body started to relax. Then she worked her way down to my lower back...
In March, executive orders from governors across the country forced us to stay home, to close schools and churches and to shut down private businesses. Businesses were classified as either "essential" or "non-essential." All businesses deemed "non-essential" were forced to close. This included markets, clothing stores, boutiques, dine-in restaurants, and beauty salons. State parks, city parks, beaches, walking trails, lakes, and other wide open spaces were closed as well. Many people feel that the "social distancing," as it has come to be known, and stay at home executive orders violate their constitutional rights, such as our First Amendment right to freely exercise our religion, our right to peaceably assemble, and that we shall not be deprived of life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. Some of the people who feel their rights have been violated have decided to exercise their First Amendment right to protest. Some have even chosen...