beethoven

I'll admit I had two massages in the last three weeks from one of my "regulars," at his apartment. I've known him for a long time, and I trust his life style and trust him not to indulge in reckless behavior. He knows that I live the same way, so neither of us expects to transmit anything to the other. We don't wear masks, but we don't kiss, either.
 
I think it's a question of accepting and managing risk. I go out every day, either for a walk (Riverside Blvd is almost deserted and I don't wear a mask, except when I go into a store) or to go shopping. I have a friend in the next building who will absolutely not leave his apartment. I had suggested that we get takeout from a local restaurant and sit six feet apart on a bench in Central Park, eating and talking. No dice. Perhaps he thinks I'm living dangerously?
 
You may think I shouldn't get a massage from my "regular." Perhaps not You may think it's OK for me to go back to that spa when it reopens. I think the first is OK (obviously), but I'm not at all sure about the second. Everyone sets his own parameters. And everyone hopes this scourge will end soon!

I believe that spas and massage parlors in NYC will reopen in Phase 3,which I assume will be in a few weeks.
 
I would expect an email from one of the spas where I was a regular, telling me that they're reopening -- if and when they do, which I hope they will. I was a customer on their last day, March 15, just before NYC was locked down. The owner told me that not only were clients reluctant to come in, but the masseurs didn't want to work, either.
 
I was taking a risk that day, and so was the masseur. I was fortunate that I wasn't infected, and I have to assume that I didn't transmit anything to him, either.
 
That's the problem with reopening. I'm absolutely certain that the owner will take every possible precaution regarding
health and safety, but I can never know where the masseur was last night. Was he partying in a crowd of people in a confined indoor space, where no one wore masks? Did he embrace anyone? Kiss him??
Likewise, they don't know where I've been, nor what I did last night. I could infect the whole place.
 
I recently had an October tour to California cancelled, and they said they hope to schedule it for next year, but it may depend on the availability of a vaccine. I mentioned this to a friend, and he said I would probably have to show proof of vaccination before they would let me on the tour. Maybe before I could get on a plane to California, too?
 
Welcome to the new normal.

If I encountered a masseur who "espoused his affection for Trump," and I liked the massage, I'd just tell him not to discuss politics, and stick to the massage. As much as I despise the current occupant of the White House, I wouldn't let that stand in the way of an enjoyable massage. I'd think that a masseur would keep his political opinions to himself rather than lose a client. But you were there, and I wasn't, so who am I to give advice?

You joke about Corona, Queens. Remember what happened to sales of Corona beer in March? How stupid can people be?

I think that Pizh is the most appealing, but no one seems to have any experience with him. ANYONE??
https://rentmasseur.com/pizh

Nylund is absolutely right. As careful as a masseur might be, he doesn't know if his clients might transmit the virus to him, and no matter how prudent your masseur is with you, he could pass it on to you. And no one would know it at the time, no matter how well intentioned all of you are.
 
Anything we do has risks. If we go for a walk, we could be hit by a bicycle messenger or a piece of stone could fall from a building and kill us. We're willing to take those risks, as they are small. We can often control where you walk, and we look both ways before crossing a street. Can we control the spread of the virus? We can't practice social distancing during a massage, nor is it convenient to wear masks. We have less control over the situation.
 
Are we willing to risk contracting Covid19? We have to assess the risk, and make a decision. There's a difference between assessing risk and taking a chance.

Am I really the first one (in two weeks!) to comment on the FIRST Charles Atlas? When some of us of a certain age were quite young, the comic books we read always had ads for building your body so that no one would dare to kick sand in your face at the beach. The ads featured a big hunky guy (in those days, he was a hunk), standing proudly in his bathing trunks, promising that if you mailed in the coupon and the required price, you could soon look like him. (75 days, was it?)
 
My reaction to this guy's photos? "I knew Charles Atlas, and sir, you are no Charles Atlas!!!"

Am I really the first one (in two weeks!) to comment on the FIRST Charles Atlas? When some of us of a certain age were quite young, the comic books we read always had ads for building your body so that no one would dare to kick sand in your face at the beach. The ads featured a big hunky guy (in those days, he was a hunk), standing proudly in his bathing trunks, promising that if you mailed in the coupon and the required price, you could soon look like him. (75 days, was it?)
 
My reaction to this guy's photos? "I knew Charles Atlas, and sir, you are no Charles Atlas!!!"

Am I really the first one (in two weeks!) to comment on the FIRST Charles Atlas? When some of us of a certain age were quite young, the comic books we read always had ads for building your body so that no one would dare to kick sand in your face at the beach. The ads featured a big hunky guy (in those days, he was a hunk), standing proudly in his bathing trunks, promising that if you mailed in the coupon and the required price, you could soon look like him. (75 days, was it?)
 
My reaction to this guy's photos? "I knew Charles Atlas, and sir, you are no Charles Atlas!!!"

Nylund is absolutely right. As careful as a masseur might be, he doesn't know if his clients might transmit the virus to him, and no matter how prudent your masseur is with you, he could pass it on to you. And no one would know it at the time, no matter how well intentioned all of you are.
 
Anything we do has risks. If we go for a walk, we could be hit by a bicycle messenger or a piece of stone could fall from a building and kill us. We're willing to take those risks, as they are small. We can often control where you walk, and we look both ways before crossing a street. Can we control the spread of the virus? We can't practice social distancing during a massage, nor is it convenient to wear masks. We have less control over the situation.
 
Are we willing to risk contracting Covid19? We have to assess the risk, and make a decision. There's a difference between assessing risk and taking a chance.

Am I really the first one (in two weeks!) to comment on the FIRST Charles Atlas? When some of us of a certain age were quite young, the comic books we read always had ads for building your body so that no one would dare to kick sand in your face at the beach. The ads featured a big hunky guy (in those days, he was a hunk), standing proudly in his bathing trunks, promising that if you mailed in the coupon and the required price, you could soon look like him. (75 days, was it?)
 
My reaction to this guy's photos? "I knew Charles Atlas, and sir, you are no Charles Atlas!!!"

Am I really the first one (in two weeks!) to comment on the FIRST Charles Atlas? When some of us of a certain age were quite young, the comic books we read always had ads for building your body so that no one would dare to kick sand in your face at the beach. The ads featured a big hunky guy (in those days, he was a hunk), standing proudly in his bathing trunks, promising that if you mailed in the coupon and the required price, you could soon look like him. (75 days, was it?)
 
My reaction to this guy's photos? "I knew Charles Atlas, and sir, you are no Charles Atlas!!!"

Nylund is absolutely right. As careful as a masseur might be, he doesn't know if his clients might transmit the virus to him, and no matter how prudent your masseur is with you, he could pass it on to you. And no one would know it at the time, no matter how well intentioned all of you are.
 
Anything we do has risks. If we go for a walk, we could be hit by a bicycle messenger or a piece of stone could fall from a building and kill us. We're willing to take those risks, as they are small. We can often control where you walk, and we look both ways before crossing a street. Can we control the spread of the virus? We can't practice social distancing during a massage, nor is it convenient to wear masks. We have less control over the situation.
 
Are we willing to risk contracting Covid19? We have to assess the risk, and make a decision. There's a difference between assessing risk and taking a chance.

Nylund is absolutely right. As careful as a masseur might be, he doesn't know if his clients might transmit the virus to him, and no matter how prudent your masseur is with you, he could pass it on to you. And no one would know it at the time, no matter how well intentioned all of you are.
 
Anything we do has risks. If we go for a walk, we could be hit by a bicycle messenger or a piece of stone could fall from a building and kill us. We're willing to take those risks, as they are small. We can often control where you walk, and we look both ways before crossing a street. Can we control the spread of the virus? We can't practice social distancing during a massage, nor is it convenient to wear masks. We have less control over the situation.
 
Are we willing to risk contracting Covid19? We have to assess the risk, and make a decision. There's a difference between assessing risk and taking a chance.

Nylund is absolutely right. As careful as a masseur might be, he doesn't know if his clients might transmit the virus to him, and no matter how prudent your masseur is with you, he could pass it on to you. And no one would know it at the time, no matter how well intentioned all of you are.
 
Anything we do has risks. If we go for a walk, we could be hit by a bicycle messenger or a piece of stone could fall from a building and kill us. We're willing to take those risks, as they are small. We can often control where you walk, and we look both ways before crossing a street. Can we control the spread of the virus? We can't practice social distancing during a massage, nor is it convenient to wear masks. We have less control over the situation.
 
Are we willing to risk contracting Covid19? We have to assess the risk, and make a decision. There's a difference between assessing risk and taking a chance.

In most of these, including the Sean Cody just mentioned, which I just saw, the client lays there like a lump of clay. If a masseur had his finger in my ass, I'd react with at least a moan of pleasure. I guess they don't consider that sort of realism necessary, as their audience doesn't care. I think a little something on the part of the client would improve these videos.

I'm looking at the last three photos in the ad. Were they taken while he was in prison?

As I see it, the main problem is not whether you and the masseur use hand sanitizer, or masks, or zip-off covers, but who your masseur has contacted -- even casually, which doesn't have to include massages -- in the past two weeks. How many other clients has he had? Were any of them infected without either of them knowing it? Your masseur may be giving you the virus, or you may be giving it to him, and neither of you will know it.
 
My last massage was on March 15, two days before Mayor DeBlasio ordered a lockdown of NYC -- but after museums and theaters closed, and that should have been red flag for me. I didn't realize what a risk I was taking! My masseur might have been carrying the virus, and infected me. I might have carried the virus, and infected him.
 
Dmitri is right. "Until there is a vaccine, it will always be a game of Russian Roulette."
 
That said, I think that Redwine has the right approach. Be very cautious in your choice of masseurs. How many other clients has your masseur had lately? Is he choosy about whom he accepts? FAR more important than basic precautions, such as hand sanitizer, etc. are his contacts and how physically close HE HAS BEEN to the client. Where have his previous clients been? How careful have they been? How likely is it that the client before YOU carried the virus and gave it to your masseur?
 
And I would ask Mr. Redwine, who always has sensible things to say in this forum, "Have you asked all these questions, and are you completely satisfied with the answers?" I admit that -- ten days ago -- I had a massage from one of my regulars, who had just resumed giving massages. I was confident that my questions had satisfactory answers, but was I still taking a chance? Yeah, I was. Especially at my age. Should I have done it? Probably not. Will I do it again? Probably not. (At least, not until Dmitri says it's OK. )

Yes, he's hot. One ad says his studio is in Queens, one in Harlem. But if one is looking for "hot," I notice that he doesn't offer erotic massage.
 
His Rentmasseur ad says he's been a member since 2017. I haven't noticed his ad before, but whether or not he's a new advertiser, he doesn't say anything about giving a massage during this time of social distancing. Most of these ads ignore this, also, as if somehow there is an aura of immunity surrounding massage tables.
 
I would love to get a massage, and have yearned for one for weeks. I've been thinking about my regular guys, who are prudent and safe, but I just don't see how we can avoid close contact, even if we don't "overdo it." I gather from various threads in The Spa that most clients are waiting for better and safer times, as I am. But I sense that most (not all) masseurs seem not to acknowledge the current situation.

Scott, I think the biggest risk you will be taking is traveling to William, who sounds like a prudent and careful person.It would help, of course, if you've been with him before, or know of someone who has. I just emailed another of my regulars (a bit of a health nut) who replied that he's been laying low, but looks forward to seeing me when I feel that I'm ready -- which I think I will be soon.
I think that my massage on Saturday that I referred to in the post just above yours, and the one you are contemplating sound fairly similar.

Very sensible, Redwine! I'm visiting one of my regulars on Saturday (my first massage since March 15, when the virus was raging, but we didn't realize it, and NYC wasn't locked down yet). No masks, but he's going to take my temperature (and his) before we start. No kissing, either. We know each, we trust each other , we have socialized outdoors (six feet apart, wearing masks) during this craziness. His apartment usually is spotless, and will be even cleaner and more sanitized than ever.

Ben3345, I can't agree with you. Social distancing and hand washing/sanitizing are perhaps the most important measures you can take. If, as you say, 30% of people are asymptomatic (I don't know the numbers at all), even then, that 30% can still be carrying the virus, and can transmit it to those who don't keep their distance.
 
If one wants to get a massge from a masseur in a mask, and avoid close facial contact, that might be OK. But I certainly don't want that kind of massage! I'm horny as hell, but I'll wait until things get better.

I was in a supermarket this morning for about 15 minutes, and masks were required. After about ten minutes, I was uncomfortable, and was happy to leave and remove my mask for the walk home -- encountering hardly anyone, so I was able to keep more than six feet distance.
 
I can't imagine getting a massage while wearing a mask. It wouldn't bother me if the masseur were wearing one -- I guess I'd prefer it, but I'd hate to wear one for almost an hour. This morning I was thinking about a trip planned for August. I'd have to fly, and the thought of wearing a mask for a one-hour flight -- plus waiting time in the terminal and on the tarmac -- is not a pleasant thought.
 
As much as I'd like to be a client again, I think I'll just have to wait this out, like so many others are resigned to doing.

Ben3345, I can't agree with you. Social distancing and hand washing/sanitizing are perhaps the most important measures you can take. If, as you say, 30% of people are asymptomatic (I don't know the numbers at all), even then, that 30% can still be carrying the virus, and can transmit it to those who don't keep their distance.
 
If one wants to get a massge from a masseur in a mask, and avoid close facial contact, that might be OK. But I certainly don't want that kind of massage! I'm horny as hell, but I'll wait until things get better.

Yes, he's hot. One ad says his studio is in Queens, one in Harlem. But if one is looking for "hot," I notice that he doesn't offer erotic massage.
 
His Rentmasseur ad says he's been a member since 2017. I haven't noticed his ad before, but whether or not he's a new advertiser, he doesn't say anything about giving a massage during this time of social distancing. Most of these ads ignore this, also, as if somehow there is an aura of immunity surrounding massage tables.
 
I would love to get a massage, and have yearned for one for weeks. I've been thinking about my regular guys, who are prudent and safe, but I just don't see how we can avoid close contact, even if we don't "overdo it." I gather from various threads in The Spa that most clients are waiting for better and safer times, as I am. But I sense that most (not all) masseurs seem not to acknowledge the current situation.