MAN: Hi there. I was walking by and noticed your sign outside. It says that you do massage therapy here and you can bill my health insurance for part of it. Is that correct?

WOMAN: It certainly is. We do massage and acupuncture here. Would you like to book an appointment?

MAN: Yes, but first I want to make sure it’s covered through my health insurance plan at work. I’ll come back once I find out.

WOMAN: No problem. But just to let you know, in order to be covered for special therapies like massage or acupuncture, most health insurance companies require a referral note from a family physician.

MAN: Oh really? Ok, well I actually have an appointment with my family doctor tomorrow.

WOMAN: That’s perfect! See you later then.

MAN: Hi, I’m back, and I have a referral form from my doctor. I’ve had this terrible pain in my shoulder for weeks, probably from playing basketball or baseball.

WOMAN: Well, we have registered massage therapists that specialize in sports injuries. Would you prefer a full body massage or just to treat that one specific area?

MAN: I think I’d prefer to focus on my upper back. That’s helped before. My arms, legs, and feet get a little achy after a game, but nothing too bothersome.

WOMAN: OK. We can book your massage for 30 minutes, 45 minutes, 60 minutes, or 75 minutes.

MAN: Hmm, what do you suggest? I’d love a 75-minute massage, but maybe that’s too much time to spend on one area. Thirty minutes seems too short, though.

WOMAN: Well, since you’re only treating one area, I’d probably recommend a 45-minute massage.

MAN: Oh, I almost forgot. My girlfriend wants to come too. Do you have two appointments at the same time? She wants a 60-minute relaxation massage.

WOMAN: OK then . . . you’re in luck, it looks like we’ve had a cancellation and I can fit you both in Thursday, at five o’clock.

WOMAN: So, how was your massage? Does your shoulder feel better?

MAN: Yes, it really does! My therapist used just the right amount of pressure. Would it be possible to book monthly appointments with her?

WOMAN: Of course! I’m glad you’re pleased. How about your girlfriend? Did she have a positive experience?

MAN: I’m not sure . . . she’s not out yet.

WOMAN: OK then, so is there a day and time that would work best for you?

MAN: Monday evenings would be good, after 5:30 when I get off from work. It’d be a great way to start the week. Maybe the last Monday of each month.

MAN: Tanya! You’re back from camp! I thought you were gone until tomorrow? Did you get bored?

WOMAN: No, camp was great. But the roads back were clear, pretty much the whole way, so we made great time.

MAN: Well, it’s good to see you. We missed you guys at card games night last Saturday.

WOMAN: Ha! You mean you missed having someone to beat! I’m still not convinced you don’t cheat somehow . . . no one can win every time without a few tricks up their sleeve. Anyways, so what’s new?

MAN: Not much—same old, same old. Oh! But on Tuesday, when I was volunteering at the community center, I saw something posted that might interest you.

WOMAN: Really? Were they advertising dog training classes by any chance? I don’t know if it was just payback for taking him on his first long car ride, but Teddy was causing some serious trouble on our trip.

MAN: Well, they might have those too, although Teddy always seems to be on perfect behaviour when I’m around. But no, the poster I saw was about a new circus school that just opened a few blocks away . . . in that grey building next to the grocery store. I was thinking . . . you’re always saying how much you wanted to be a circus performer growing up—now’s your chance!

WOMAN: Are you serious? A circus school? I’d love that! I imagine it’s just for kids, though. There probably aren’t many adults out there still dreaming of being circus stars.

MAN: Actually, I checked it out, and the majority of classes are for adults. Apparently, you aren’t that strange after all! Samantha even found a class that she thought looked fun . . . some sort of combination of yoga and acrobatics.

WOMAN: Ahh, acroyoga. I could see her liking that! Well, I’ll definitely have to check it out. I hope they have classes in trapeze—that’s what I’ve always wanted to try the most.

MAN: They have one on Saturday nights and bright and early Sunday mornings.

WOMAN: Yuck! I hate getting up early, especially on a Sunday! But I can’t leave you without someone to beat at cards on Saturday night . . . so I guess I’ll be setting my alarm clock!

MAN: Hi Alice, how are you? Still watching a different movie every night?

WOMAN: Yes, Daniel, I am! I’m so glad you recommended that I subscribe to that international movie channel! It doesn’t add that much to my television bill every month, and I’m really enjoying it! I’ll never have to go out to a theatre to see a movie again!

MAN: Have you considered writing reviews? Maybe you could get them posted online, on a movie blog.

WOMAN: Oh, I’m not sure . . . I’ve never written a movie review before.

MAN: It’s not that difficult. You had to write book reviews in school, didn’t you? First, you should identify the genre: for example, is the movie a comedy or a romance or an action movie? Then you can talk about the plot: what happens.

WOMAN: But I don’t want to spoil the movie for other people!

MAN: Exactly. So either don’t tell them how it ends or tell them in advance that you’re going to. It’s called a “spoiler alert.” You can also talk about the characters and the dialogue: are the people interesting, is their conversation realistic?

WOMAN: In book reviews, we also talked about theme and setting. I could do that for the movie as well.

MAN: Yes. And then, since a movie is NOT a book, you can talk about the acting, the costumes, the soundtrack, the special effects—

WOMAN: Soundtrack? Special effects?

MAN: The soundtrack is the music. Remember that Celine Dion song from that movie we watched together at my place—Titanic? And special effects—remember that Star Trek movie I gave you?

WOMAN: I LOVE that song! And the Star Trek movie was full of spaceships and alien creatures . . . Oh, I see what you mean. Any other advice?

MAN: Well, again, I encourage you to submit your reviews to a movie blog or something. I think that there’s a great need for reviews about movies that are NOT your typical Hollywood productions that everybody sees and everybody knows about.

WOMAN: Okay, thanks! I can’t wait to show you my first attempt!

A new daycare is set to open at Mayfair Seniors’ Residence this month. The concept, although not new in Canada, is the first of its kind in Saskatchewan. In fact, the city of Toronto has been running combined facilities for over 25 years with tremendous success. The combined care centres are intended to foster intergenerational interaction among the children and seniors. Psychologist Lynda Rogers says there are benefits for both parties.

On the one hand, seniors are encouraged to socialize and get moving by participating in activities with the children, which are supervised and organized by licenced professionals. Other potential health benefits for seniors include lower levels of depression and slower cognitive decline. For the children, Rogers says it’s an opportunity to develop empathy and understanding towards others. It may even help reduce age discrimination.

Some community members have expressed health concerns, however, manager of Toronto’s early childhood education facilities, Mansour Jalali argues that their centres have not seen any significant increase in illnesses because careful sanitation measures are taken. Participants must use hand sanitizer before and after activities, and the centre has disinfectant protocols in place for the daycare and residential centres.

You’ve probably heard the theory: First-born children are reliable, middle children are sociable, last-borns crave the spotlight, and ’onlies’ are lonely. These notions—some would say stereotypes— arise from decades of research and form the backbone of hundreds of self-help and parenting books. The only problem? The notion that birth order affects personality is increasingly regarded by scientists as pure nonsense.

One such expert is Dr. William Trager of McGill University. He points to two recent international studies that turned up zero correlation between birth order and personality trait development. Trager says past studies that posited a link between birth order and personality were fatally flawed. One blunder, says Trager, was that researchers confounded their subjects’ birth order with their chronological age at the time of the study. For example, suppose an eldest child, 16-year-old Frank, was subjectively described by family members as reliable compared to his youngest sibling, 10-year-old Timmy. Researchers concluded that Frank’s reliability arose from the fact that he was first born. However, had the researchers come back 6 years later and repeated the questionnaire, Trager says they probably would have found that Timmy, by then 16 years old himself, would be rated as equally reliable, despite being the youngest. For Trager, continued belief in these theories is an indication of people’s desires trumping their ability to reason.

Despite these findings, Kirsten Grenville, CEO of Global Publishing, says books on birth order theory have propelled a raft of popular psychologists and parenting experts to the top of the bestseller charts. For Grenville, the issue isn’t whether or not birth order theory is scientifically valid. The issue, rather, is whether or not it sells product—and sell it does! Consumers’ seemingly insatiable appetite for these books, says Grenville, stems from the fact that almost everyone has an instinctive sense that birth order theories are true, whether or not they really are. People read these descriptions of sibling relationship dynamics, and they think, ’Yeah, that is true for me.’ Maybe the descriptions are like horoscopes: general enough that almost everyone can find something to agree with. Also, even if birth order doesn’t scientifically correlate with personality trait development, there are certainly enough personal anecdotes, feelings, and hunches to suggest otherwise.

So can we finally put to rest this notion that birth order matters from a scientific perspective? Dr. Trager’s response would be a qualified no. While personality may not be affected, birth order does appear to impact intelligence. Dr. Trager says studies have proven that compared to their siblings, first-borns are smarter on average by a full IQ point.