Thursday, January 17, 2008

Slandered!

Every time I log onto Yelp to read reviews about Pavia, I inwardly wince at the slight POTENTIAL of seeing a negative one. I tense up, my heart beats fast, I get nervous and fluttery, and then I go to our page of reviews and usually heave a sigh of relief. Well, then I came across this one, posted by "S.S.:"

"I saw that Pavia was voted best spa in the San Jose Mercury News and decided to try it out. The aesthetician, an Asian woman named Christina, completely burned my skin. I had to go to a doctor and it took nearly 3 weeks for it to heal.

If you value your body, don't go to this place. I wouldn't want anyone to go through the pain and discomfort I suffered."


And then the blood roared in my head and I saw only red and felt pure rage coursing through my veins. I thought, "Wow - she really tried to do harm to my esthetician's career without delivering ALL of the facts." She named Christina by name (Christina is no longer with me, by the way - she went to open a day care) and also by race, as if to ensure that she would never be able to work again. Meanwhile, we refunded her all the money she paid for the services, and we also paid for the cream she purchased from the dermatologist, even though she had not given us the chance to resolve it first. AND, all of this was demanded at the top of her longs, accompanied by her mother and father for orchestral support. These, however, she did not mention.

Perhaps it makes no difference to her, though. I felt that we did right by her, going beyond the normal call of duty (certainly simply refunding the money she paid should have been enough) in trying to secure her happiness and goodwill. And I perceive that she took our fervent efforts and then tossed them back in our faces by writing this kind of a review.

Well, c'est la vie. My initial rage at her review has cooled, melting first into a gentle indignance, then subsiding into an indifferent pity (as in: poor, misguided, fractured soul, she has to resort to these kinds of racist remarks to make herself feel better), and finally dissipating away entirely. I wish her well and I hope God heaps blessings upon her. After all, she is the one who has to live with the karma engendered by her words, not me.

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