Massage services knead away the tension of tedious meetings and long workweeks. But the treatments, some say, can be disruptive and dangerous, and . . . : There’s the Rub
The first rule is: Don’t rub the boss the wrong way.
Following that rule, masseuse Donna Steinberg squeezed her way into a Century City high-rise last week to give 10-minute, $10 “stress breaks” to a group of attorneys and law office employees.
Steinberg works for a fledgling company that offers quick massages to busy executives who are in a hurry to relax between meetings, phone calls and power lunches.
Problem is, most bosses and office managers turn a cold shoulder to the service. They worry that it is too disruptive or too dangerous for the workplace. Most certainly, it is too yuppie-ish.
So Steinberg knew she had to do the kneading without needling the managing partners.
She had been called by junior lawyer J. Chester Jones, who decided that a massage would help him handle the week’s 60-hour work schedule. Jones kept his office door open, his shirt on and his speaker-phone busy as Steinberg poked and pulled at the muscles in his back and arms.
When Jones was sufficiently loosened up 10 minutes later, Steinberg had him escort her down the hall to the office of firm partner Michael D. Fazio.
If she could get her hands around the boss’s neck, she figured she would be able to prove the value of the service.
Fazio gamely agreed to hold all calls and sit still at his desk for his first professional massage.
“It seemed strange, to say the least,” he said afterward. “I kind of felt silly when my secretary walked in. But it felt good. I think it makes sense.”
That’s the way office massage sessions invariably end--with satisfied customers--said George Dorritie, who launched Take Ten last year after quitting his job as a stockbroker.
Dorritie, 28, said he decided to try his hand at the office massage business after remembering how relaxing it was to receive impromptu back rubs from his brokerage house secretary.
“But getting into offices is the hardest part of this business. Some managers feel it takes away from the office environment or is an unnecessary luxury,” he said.
“I tell them I’m not after their company to pay for it, that the individual pays the $10. I tell them that there’s no disrobing, and no oils or creams are used.”
His six city-licensed massage therapists are told to keep office doors open and to close their eyes if sensitive business documents are visible on desks.
He carries a $1-million liability insurance policy in case a masseuse doesn’t just touch a raw nerve but accidentally pinches one.
Desk massages do not please everyone, however.
“Some people have to be pampered every day,” sniffed a law office secretary who declined to give her name. “They’re babied too much. But what do you expect? This is Hollywood.”
Masseuse Sherry McIntyre said many office workers scoff at the massage idea. “Some people just don’t want to be touched,” she said. “But others say they can’t believe that massages aren’t included as a company fringe benefit.”
Steinberg acknowledged that she at first was skeptical of the office visit idea. “It sounds like such an L.A. thing,” she said. “But 10 minutes is enough to relieve tensions without making people too relaxed--so they can’t work.”
Los Angeles isn’t the first city to have such an office service. A company called Business Alive was established in 1987 in San Diego. And several individual massage therapists in the Southland have offered office rubdowns in recent years.
“It’s an idea I think will catch on,” said Dr. Ronald LeFebvre, director of the California School of Medical Sciences, which offers one of several massage-training programs in the Los Angeles area.
It’s caught on at Prima Modeling Management on La Brea Avenue, where owner Jeffrey Dash pays for any employee who wants one to have a weekly office massage.
And it seems to be catching on at lawyer Thomas A. Gutierrez’s Beverly Hills office. When Gutierrez spied staffer Javier Escobar receiving a lunchtime massage last week, he demanded equal time.
“I’ll definitely do this again,” he said after his massage. “I’ll force myself to put aside 10 minutes. It will probably add 10 years to my life.
“I wonder if it shows up in increased productivity,” he mused.
