Saturday 11 September 2010

Feet and drawers

When I went to Derby recently I was intrigued by a new shop, where women were sitting with their feet in glass tanks filled with water. I asked my friend what it was. "It's a place where you go to have fish nibble your feet," she told me.


I am such a sad, out-of-touch person that I hadn't heard of this latest craze. A special type of fish cleans up all that horrid dead skin around your tootsies, apparently. When I mentioned this to someone at work, she said her friend had done it and it was £10 for 15 minutes. Or it might have been £15 for 10 minutes. I can't quite remember which, as the very thought made me cringe. If you can bear to watch, a brave BBC reporter tries it out for herself here.


And this week I've heard about another funny fad. A colleague told me about somebody she knows who has refused to get married next year, because 2011 is an odd number. She went on to tell me that a lot of younger people now think all odd numbers are unlucky. Her own daughter will only have the volume on the radio at an even number. Goodness - folk do make life hard for themselves!


I'd love to know how this superstition came about. And also, if anyone has tried the fish thing do let me know what it was like.


Finally, I was rooting in a secondhand shop today, and a chest of drawers made me smile. Not that I wanted to buy it, but I liked the label sellotaped to its top. 'Chester draw'. If you say it out loud, that does sound like chest of drawers, doesn't it.

16 comments:

Old Kitty said...

I'll never forget one ex-colleague who labelled her various drawers with "draw", e.g. paper draw etc. When I asked why draw and not drawer she said that she used spellcheck on word when she was typing the words out and spellcheck never corrected her.
:-)

I do know about the fish tank thing - only through that bbc news report. I always think - poor fish if only they could organise and create a union! LOL!

I never knew young people to be this superstitious (especially in these days of such techno gizmos) but guess I'm out of touch too!
:-)

Take care
x

Joanna said...

I didn't know about these fish, but one of our cats like to lick our toes. Maybe he's a catfish?

My father claimed that odd-numbered years were the unlucky ones. My children and I were all born in even-numbered years and my father and brother both died in odd-numbered years, so he may have had a point.

joanne fox said...

Oh Kitty, I confess I never gave much thought to the fish! I suppose there are standards on fish welfare to be met, but hopefully the RSPCA or someone keeps tabs on these things!

joanne fox said...

Joanna - a catfish? Or a fishcat? The dog likes to lick my feet, which is quite soothing after a hard day at work. But with the fish it's the thought of the actual nibbling - yukk...

Maybe there is some old superstition behind this thing about odd-numbered years, but I've just never heard of it before. I was born in an odd year, and many people would think that explains a lot!

HelenMWalters said...

Ugh. That fish thing does make me cringe. Don't think I'll be giving it a try any time soon.

joanne fox said...

Nor me, Helen. x

MorningAJ said...

You found this in Derby? I never thought of Derby as being a forward-thinking place. (or should that be plaice?)

joanne fox said...

Yes - it's in the shiny big Westfield Centre! I don't know whether being eaten by fish is forward-thinking though. It sounds to me like some barbaric practice from Ancient Rome!

bazza said...

I understand that if you place your feet in a tank of piranhas they do a nice job of cleaning the skin..... down to the bone!

Ellie Garratt said...

I saw a news article about the fish nibbling craze. No thanks! Can you imagine the sensation of fish nibbling away at your skin?! Nooooo.

joanne fox said...

So on balance, we're not in favour of being eaten alive then?!

Suzanne Ross Jones said...

I've seen the fish thing on tv - disgusting (I hate the thought of feet at the best of times).

Love that sign.

XX

joanne fox said...

Chiropody was not a career option for you then Suzanne! I agree that feet in general can be a bit yucky.

Hannah Stoneham said...

I have certainly not heard about this until now, but would rather like to see it in action!

thanks for enlightening me

Hannah

Margo Berendsen said...

Fish nibbling feet! And people pay for this? That's hilarious.

I haven't heard of the odd number superstitious - I got married on an odd year but come to think it, even numbers just seem more pleasing, for some reason. These odd tidbits and quirks sure make life fun and interesting though, don't they?

larainydays said...

Yea! I figured out how to post on your blog again. I'm am becoming so technically advanced it makes my head spin.

There was a local salon that had the fish pedicure but the health dept. shut it down, much to the dismay of many devoted fans. I don't really go for that sort of thing, but I did let a huge carp suck on my toe at the Dangling Rope Marina at Lake Powell. Oh, memories.