Ben Wu

Nothing if you are happily married, such is the case for me. But if you are looking for someone, it might just be the best thing that’s ever happened to you.

I broke my wrist falling off my bike. So I have to go to physical therapy 3 times a week. The office specializes in hand therapy and is located in midtown Manhattan. The staff are very friendly and talkative. My therapist, Ms. A, who runs the practice, is one of the best in the field. She is tough on my wrist but is a very kind and gentle old lady. Ms. A enjoys teasing me. But I guess I am not the only one she teases. There’s also Mr. J and Ms. C, who treat me occasionally when Ms. A is too busy.

The thing with hand therapy is, you dont just go there once and done, you normally have to go there a few times a week over the course of a few months. there are always a few patients in one room at a time. It gets pretty easy to know people and know them well.

It soon became clear to me that Mr. J and Ms. C enjoy playing match makers for their patients, whether warranted or not. What I didnt know, is that Ms. A is also quite into it.

Last Friday I was in a room waiting to be treated by Ms. A. In the same room were Mr. J and his patient, and Ms. C and her patient. It was late. She put the heat pad on my wrist and stepped out. I figured she most likely went to treat another patient in the other room while my wrist was being warmed up. And so I waited. She showed up a couple of times looking for stuff. I could tell she was really tired. It must’ve been a long day for her. But the wait was getting longer, unusally long. It was getting dark too. Just when I was getting impatient she came in, a big smile on her face, and announced to Mr. J and Ms. C, “I finally got them together, the dentist and the lady! They left together.” Apparently she’d been spending all this time working hard to hook up two of her patients. Mr. J looked up at her and asked, “Did you know that the dentist is married?” She appeared stunned, a puzzled expression of a little girl’s on her face, and said, “Oh that I dont know.” The whole room cracked up!

Who says meeting people in New York is hard? So long as you dont mind a broken wrist or two.