Last year, TikToker Jessica (@jessicakes) only went on one date, and it was the worst date of her life. She met this guy on social media, and he was from the same area.
They talked for about a month. One day, he asked what she was doing for the weekend. She told him that she was thinking about getting a massage because her back was hurting.
He wanted to take her to the massage place he always went to, claiming that they did the best job. She was open to trying somewhere new, so she agreed. He even offered to pick her up and showed up at her door with flowers.
He seemed sweet, but the whole car ride was a little awkward. For some reason, the energy felt weird. After about 10 to 15 minutes, he pulled into a grocery store parking lot. She looked around and saw nothing but fast-food restaurants and a pizza place.
He pointed to a tiny massage place tucked in between everything else. It was one of those low-key Asian foot massage places. Jessica was mad because she thought they were going to a fancy med spa, so she had dressed up.
“I’m trying not to judge, okay, because I’m all for a foot massage,” Jessica said. “I was in L.A. for a long time. I used to do the Asian foot massage all the time. Nothing wrong with it. I just wanted to give him the benefit of the doubt.”
But when they walked in, she was immediately hit with a terrible odor. It smelled like a dirty fish tank. She gave him a weird look, but he insisted that they were really good and talented at giving massages.
There were stale crackers on the table, and the place looked run-down, dirty, and dusty. They were led to a filthy back room that smelled even worse.
For some reason, the stench was getting stronger. The massage ended up being awful.
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“The whole massage I was suffering because I was thinking like, I’m going to have to go home and wash everything,” said Jessica.
“I’m going to have to wash my hair. My hair smells like a dirty fish tank, like it just smelled moldy.”
At the end, he paid for the massage, and it was only $30. On the car ride home, she told him that it was the worst massage she had ever gotten in her life. He was apologetic and seemed to feel bad for taking her there.
As she got out of the car, he tried to kiss her. Afterward, she blocked his phone number and never spoke to him again. She wishes she had driven herself, listened to her gut, and left right when she smelled the place. It was a lesson not to settle for below the bare minimum.
By Emily Chan
Emily Chan is a writer who covers lifestyle and news content. She graduated from Michigan State University with a degree in... More about Emily Chan
