2002-12-23 - 12:38 p.m.

Yesterday, my sister treated me to a manicure. We went to this little place in Brookline, part of a chain of little places in which tiny Asian women sit at cramped tables and give manicures and pedicures, cheap. When the customer sits down, the manicurists asks, "square" or "lound?" For the rest of the manicure, the manicurist is very chatty, but not with the customer.

I think the women are Vietnamese, and although they have to sit in this stuffy space all day, breathing the fumes of acetone and nail polish, it seems like they share an enviable bond. They chatter away with each other, free from the concern that their customers understand a word. They are likely talking about us, and I smiled as I speculated what they were saying, even if it was about me.

"This one, she has nasty cuticles. Just look at all this shit I have to clean up."

"So? This woman's feet smell, and her toes are fat. Just look how ugly they are!"

say what? - mas y mas!

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