# How common is it to request a happy end from a regular masseuse? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [July 2, 2010, 8:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-common-is-it-to-request-a-happy-end-from-a-regular-masseuse/545285 "2010-07-02T08:54:14Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Isamu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/7c8e57/32.png) [@Isamu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Isamu)\ **Post date:** [July 2, 2010, 8:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-common-is-it-to-request-a-happy-end-from-a-regular-masseuse/545285/1 "2010-07-02T08:54:14Z")
I was kind of surprised in another thread here (Kerry being accused of demanding sex from a masseuse) that many posters took it for granted that a happy end was kind of a normal arrangement in the massage business. I think I’ve only had one professional massage in my life - when I was on vacation in Mexico - it was at the (fairly nice) hotel I was staying at and at the end of the massage the woman stopped and asked me if I had a girlfriend. I was 😕 but now I look back at it, was she suggesting something? It would never have occurred to me that a hand job might be an option. Am I thick as a brick, or is that kind of thing common? ---
**Author:** ![Sleeps\_With\_Butterflies](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/bb73d2/32.png) [@Sleeps\_With\_Butterflies](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sleeps_With_Butterflies)\ **Post date:** [July 2, 2010, 8:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-common-is-it-to-request-a-happy-end-from-a-regular-masseuse/545285/2 "2010-07-02T08:57:52Z")
I normally get massages at a day spa/salon I go to and they serve women only and have only women performing the massages. The one woman I see most frequently for this said that she loved working there because she’d been a massage therapist in a medical facility and even THERE she had men asking for a happy ending quite often. ---
**Author:** ![firstname](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/7ab992/32.png) [@firstname](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/firstname)\ **Post date:** [July 2, 2010, 9:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-common-is-it-to-request-a-happy-end-from-a-regular-masseuse/545285/3 "2010-07-02T09:08:44Z")
Where I live, it depends on the establishment, my mother worked for a massage bussiness in a doctors surgery for many years and they never had this problem. However a massage bussiness that advertises “open late” or that is in the ‘bad’ part of town is probably going to experience this alot more often. ---
**Author:** ![willthekittensurvive](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/91b2a8/32.png) [@willthekittensurvive](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/willthekittensurvive)\ **Post date:** [July 2, 2010, 9:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-common-is-it-to-request-a-happy-end-from-a-regular-masseuse/545285/4 "2010-07-02T09:11:14Z")
[penny acade link](http://www.penny-arcade.com/comic/2008/11/19/) ---
**Author:** ![rhubarbarin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/eb9ed0/32.png) [@rhubarbarin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rhubarbarin)\ **Post date:** [July 2, 2010, 12:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-common-is-it-to-request-a-happy-end-from-a-regular-masseuse/545285/5 "2010-07-02T12:12:24Z")
I know a lot of professional female massage therapists, none of whom have ever given a ‘happy ending’. A lot of male clients don’t understand that getting a $90 massage from the owner of a local yoga studio is not the same as going to the shady, hole-in-the-wall places that put out ads featuring a young, naked Asian girl covered in strategically-placed soap suds. They have to deal with a lot of inappropriateness unfortunately, sometimes going so far as sexual assault. Charges have been filed. ---
**Author:** ![Mama\_Zappa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/71e660/32.png) [@Mama\_Zappa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mama_Zappa)\ **Post date:** [July 2, 2010, 12:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-common-is-it-to-request-a-happy-end-from-a-regular-masseuse/545285/6 "2010-07-02T12:24:51Z")
It must not be unheard-of… when we became clients of a massage therapy business, one of the things we had to read and sign was something to the effect of “inappropriate behavior and you’re out the door RIGHT NOW”. ---
**Author:** ![Shodan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9f8e36/32.png) [@Shodan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shodan)\ **Post date:** [July 2, 2010, 12:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-common-is-it-to-request-a-happy-end-from-a-regular-masseuse/545285/7 "2010-07-02T12:54:28Z")
[nitpick]I think you have the wrong boring, plastic Democrat mentioned.[/nitpick] Regards, Shodan ---
**Author:** ![Bricker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/977dab/32.png) [@Bricker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bricker)\ **Post date:** [July 2, 2010, 1:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-common-is-it-to-request-a-happy-end-from-a-regular-masseuse/545285/8 "2010-07-02T13:27:00Z")
The last time I got a massage it was from my high school football team’s trainer. And I didn’t ask. ---
**Author:** ![Dangerosa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/22d042/32.png) [@Dangerosa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dangerosa)\ **Post date:** [July 2, 2010, 1:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-common-is-it-to-request-a-happy-end-from-a-regular-masseuse/545285/9 "2010-07-02T13:51:39Z")
I get them all the time, from men and women - being female its never occurred to me to ask for a “happy ending” - but it strikes me as highly inappropriate from the types of salons, spas and therapists I go to. Not that I’m sure they aren’t asked, but I suspect asking in most of the places I go would get you escorted from the premises. Now, I also suspect that the massage parlours I don’t visit, the ones where the massusse is in a bikini and there are not copies of “massage therapy today” in the lobby - that its part of the service. And I’ve had a massage in a resort in Mexico, and it wouldn’t surprise me there if it was - I don’t want to say its appropriate because I’m not sure sexual favors for money is - but not unusual and more likely to result in success. ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [July 2, 2010, 2:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-common-is-it-to-request-a-happy-end-from-a-regular-masseuse/545285/10 "2010-07-02T14:03:12Z")
I always thought it was sort of an urban legend. On the other hand, I’ve only had one professional massage, and that was in an upscale hotel spa, in a semi-public room. ---
**Author:** ![Nzinga\_Seated](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/b5ac83/32.png) [@Nzinga\_Seated](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nzinga_Seated)\ **Post date:** [July 2, 2010, 2:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-common-is-it-to-request-a-happy-end-from-a-regular-masseuse/545285/11 "2010-07-02T14:06:12Z")
> [@Bricker](#): > > The last time I got a massage it was from my high school football team’s trainer. > > And I didn’t ask. So the bastard just took it upon himself, huh? ---
**Author:** ![Grrr](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/grrr/32/146_2.png) [@Grrr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Grrr)\ **Post date:** [July 2, 2010, 2:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-common-is-it-to-request-a-happy-end-from-a-regular-masseuse/545285/12 "2010-07-02T14:15:45Z")
> [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](#): > > I always thought it was sort of an urban legend. **On the other hand,** I’ve only had one professional massage, and that was in an upscale hotel spa, in a semi-public room. Heh, I see what you did there. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![J-P\_L](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/j-p_l/32/3156_2.png) [@J-P\_L](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/J-P_L)\ **Post date:** [July 2, 2010, 8:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-common-is-it-to-request-a-happy-end-from-a-regular-masseuse/545285/13 "2010-07-02T20:16:04Z")
I would assume that any spa/masseuse that provide that service expect a substantial reward in return ---
**Author:** ![thelurkinghorror](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/7c8e57/32.png) [@thelurkinghorror](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thelurkinghorror)\ **Post date:** [July 2, 2010, 8:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-common-is-it-to-request-a-happy-end-from-a-regular-masseuse/545285/14 "2010-07-02T20:45:17Z")
If the masseuse gives you a 5 minute crappy “exotic” massage, then demands you pay more for longer through a thick accent, then it’s expected that you ask for the happy end. ---
**Author:** ![justrob](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/a9adbd/32.png) [@justrob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/justrob)\ **Post date:** [July 2, 2010, 8:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-common-is-it-to-request-a-happy-end-from-a-regular-masseuse/545285/15 "2010-07-02T20:51:06Z")
I’m guessing this is what people are talking about? [Happy Ending](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tRF-D8JcVjs) ---
**Author:** ![mo50](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/8797f3/32.png) [@mo50](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mo50)\ **Post date:** [July 2, 2010, 9:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-common-is-it-to-request-a-happy-end-from-a-regular-masseuse/545285/16 "2010-07-02T21:38:41Z")
Some friends gave me a gift certificate for a massage for my birthday one year a while back. It was at this kinda groovy-new agey place near where I live in NY. You know, scented candles, soothing ambient music, low lights, etc. I have to admit I was kinda hoping it might involve some gorgeous exotic middle eastern masseuse & maybe the possibility of a happy ending (I was single, no comittments). Imagine my dissappointment when I learned I would be getting a massage from this huge musclebound russian guy named Boris or Sergei or somesuch (droop sound). :smack: Anyway, he was great and really nice, and I enjoyed the experience immensly, despite my dissappointment! 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Cat\_Fight](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/90ced4/32.png) [@Cat\_Fight](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cat_Fight)\ **Post date:** [July 2, 2010, 9:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-common-is-it-to-request-a-happy-end-from-a-regular-masseuse/545285/17 "2010-07-02T21:53:22Z")
The clue to what you’re getting: Neon sign and closed curtains or shades (or no window at all)? Massage parlor. '80s graphics like the kind in nail salons? Massage parlor. No other spa treatments that would appeal to women? Probably a massage parlor. And as others have mentioned, even with training, certificates and a legitimate-looking place of business, most massage therapists will get people who assume they provide something ‘extra’ for the right price. ---
**Author:** ![Slithy\_Tove](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slithy_tove/32/18248_2.png) [@Slithy\_Tove](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Slithy_Tove)\ **Post date:** [July 2, 2010, 10:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-common-is-it-to-request-a-happy-end-from-a-regular-masseuse/545285/18 "2010-07-02T22:24:18Z")
> [@Cat\_Fight](#): > > '80s graphics like the kind in nail salons? Massage parlor. Sure, say that now. But someday art history scholars yet unborn will fully appreciate the genius that was [Patrick Nagel](http://www.patricknagel.com/taf/image_search.taf) ---
**Author:** ![Superhal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b4bc9f/32.png) [@Superhal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Superhal)\ **Post date:** [July 2, 2010, 10:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-common-is-it-to-request-a-happy-end-from-a-regular-masseuse/545285/19 "2010-07-02T22:25:38Z")
The professional massage place I go to has a sign that if you ask for sexual favors you will be asked to leave. ---
**Author:** ![EmAnJ](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/d2c977/32.png) [@EmAnJ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EmAnJ)\ **Post date:** [July 2, 2010, 10:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-common-is-it-to-request-a-happy-end-from-a-regular-masseuse/545285/20 "2010-07-02T22:35:03Z")
I get regular massages as does my husband, and we go to a sports therapy clinic. I have never actually heard of a real life happy ending in any of the registered clinics - though they ARE registered (with the province) so I’m sure that’s a bit different. A friend of ours has said that some of those ones that you find listed in the classified that will come to your house are happy ending massages. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-common-is-it-to-request-a-happy-end-from-a-regular-masseuse/545285.md?page=2)