The massage therapist turned out to be a very chatty person. I’d never met anybody who talked as much in a quiet massage room with dimmed lighting and ambient music.
First, she informed me that I have “an extremely heavy accent” and demanded to know how that came about.
Then, she asked me the weirdest question any massage therapist ever asked me.
“Do you still work?” she inquired.
It’s the word “still” that confused me. There is no way I look over 65 years of age. But who else can you ask if they STILL work but a retirement age person?
I made another appointment with this massage therapist, though, because she is very good at what she does. An artist should be allowed to have her small foibles, I guess.
Clarissa's Blog 
““Do you still work?” she inquired. It’s the word “still” that confused me”
Did you mention you had a baby? If so, I bet that’s what the word “still” indicates. My friend also had a baby recently and she is regularly asked if she “still” works. My friend finds the question irritating.
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“an extremely heavy accent”
Is she serious? She’s obviously never heard an “an extremely heavy accent,” where you can barely tell the person is speaking English at all, as the intonation is entirely that of another language, very remote from English.
And how rude of her!
I remember a hairstylist some decade ago take strands of my hair by their ends, then let them drop, making a face of disappointment and disgust, with words, “Your hair doesn’t really do anything, does it?” (I have straight hair.) Way to go, making your customer feel appreciated. Very un-American customer service.
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It’s especially strange given that there is an Eastern European person working at the salon who has a much stronger accent.
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“She’s obviously never heard an “an extremely heavy accent,” where you can barely tell the person is speaking English at all, as the intonation is entirely that of another language, very remote from English.”
As a born eavesdropper I listen to conversations around me and in international places (airports, tourist places) play “spot the language”. Several times it’s taken me a while to realize that the language is “English” (there are indigenous accents from the British Isles that sound more like Norwegian than anything an American can deal with).
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Once I tried to watch “Trainspotting” and, good lord, I couldn’t figure out most of it! That thick scottish accent almost made me cry of frustration.
Sometimes the natives are the hardest to understand. Among the non-native speakers, I find the scandinavians to be the easiest.
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