You can't judge a book by its cover

3/3/2025

Writing to survive the trump administration. Episode 40: You Can’t Judge A Book By Its Cover

I found an acupuncture clinic that takes my insurance! When I found this out, I booked the earliest available slot.

My appointment was at 7pm this evening, and the clinic turned out to be a very small, very old house, and I started judging it before I even walked in the door. It’s in… not the best part of town. I mean, not the worst, either, but I was, like, hoping my car would not get broken into while I was inside. Oh, yeah – there was no discernible parking area in front – like, no driveway that I could see as I drove by (wondering if I was really at the right place), and the street it’s on is a main thoroughfare with no street parking.

So I parked on a residential street around the corner and walked back to the door. There was no sign, but a wheelchair accessible ramp was a clue that I was in the right place. The outer door was standing open onto a sun porch, followed by an inner front door that didn’t exactly close all the way. Like I said, it’s an OLD house.

Upon entering, I was – shall we say – unimpressed by the cleanliness level of the office? The dark shag carpet did not appear to have been vacuumed recently, the surfaces were likewise not well dusted, and the walls had a grayish patina. There were no humans in sight, but I could hear a dog barking behind a door nearby. The door behind a shabby desk was closed, so I assumed the acupuncturist was finishing up another session.

Finding a seat on a beat-up couch, I noticed that the (couch? Carpet? Room in general?) smelled vaguely of urine, and I turned my attention to the still-barking dog and hoped this was the explanation for the odor. I also briefly thought of leaving.

I didn’t leave, though, and my acupuncturist welcomed me to our session shortly thereafter. I’m very glad I stayed, because the work he did felt focused and connected to the underlying issue. I can’t tell if my sciatica issue is resolved – it’s only been an hour since our session ended – but I’m hopeful that I’m one step closer to waving goodbye to this pain.

Moral of the story? It’s useful to notice my judgments and be willing to change my mind based on new information, and the surface of something does not predict its substance.