Opportunity seen, opportunity acted upon. With the advent of college and workplace “safe spaces”, someone in NYC with the entrepreneurial spirit and a gleam in his eye opened up the first cry spa or rather “TheSob Parlour” Yes, for 20 beans you can rent a room for a half hour and cry your pea pickin’ heart out. Psychologically speaking, a good yell when one is frustrated is supposed to a good stress reliever but then, so is crying…..or so they say. So, when a person is feeling alone or just went through a break-up or stressed beyond belief at work, why not rent a room and cry it out? Dunno. Now, I do not know if the project is a financial bright light or a disaster in the making because our generation was taught that men should just buck up, put our helmets on and forge ahead but today’s society is different. It seems that when one is upset, backed into a corner or feels offended, one should just let the waterworks flow and everything will be alright. Again, dunno. Personally, viewing the society of today, the venture complete with a room, box of tissues and a chair for 20 dollars might be a hit but for me…..meh, not so much. For $20, buying a new tool always seems to brighten my day. https://secretnyc.co/sob-parlour-cry-room-nyc/
True but think about it Jenna. Colleges and universities provide “safe spaces” and private rooms for those highly emotional beings who feel threatened when someone uses the wrong pronoun so when a young graduate hits the streets and faces reality, where are the poor dears supposed to go? I mean, aren’t the colleges training their students to go into a separate room to have their “pity-me” parties? Or, when a Wall Street trader has just found out that the SEC is going after him for insider trading, instead of jumping out of a window he can just go into a private room, have a good cry first and Then shoot himself. Orrrr….when a boss is having an affair with his or her secretary, instead of renting a motel room for $100 and hour, a sob room would do quite nicely for 1/5th the price. I’m sure that some wailing and cries to a deity would be sufficient proof of the need for such a room.
I think I am in touch with what used to be my masculine side. Vigorously stacking hay or splitting wood was a better use of my threatened/angry feelings. But yes, If I needed a good cry, throwing $20 in the toilet would do it.
About 30 years or so ago I heard about a guy in San Francisco or Los Angeles who had an ad in the paper stating that using the privacy of his own home, he’d listen for an hour to whatever someone had to say without saying anything to respond. No advice, no positive or negative reactions; just listen. He might have had a box of tissues or offered a cup of Joe or water or something but I kinda like his idea. Personally, I have a big heavy punching bag in the back yard and a whole lot of equipment to workout on to allay any stress I might be feeling. But for some, I can see how finding someone who will just listen would help matters.
That's pretty much the magic of AA. You can sort out your own thoughts--out loud--without any response whatsoever, judging or advising or otherwise. And when you phrase things in a way to make others understand, you learn more about those things.
Who knew we needed the guidance of a trainer for something like this? Maybe I have a new career opportunity that I never imagined.
True. The Army sent me to a Leadership Preparation course right after AIT which I didn’t ask for nor wanted but I was sent anyway. *Note: My test scores were such that the Army, in all of its infinite wisdom, wanted to push me into OCS which is what the leadership course was all about*. I digress. The one thing that was stressed during the counseling portion of the course was to listen first, talk last; give advice sparingly and Never use our own personal experiences whilst giving said advice even if the problem we were listening to was identical to one we went through.