This is a guest post from a friend of ours who is a missionary doctor working with Muslims. It is a part of his guest series, "Day-to-day Observations from Asia."
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My wife had a doctor's appointment on a recent Saturday morning. She was well into pregnancy and the visits were becoming more frequent. I went along because I hadn't met the doctor yet, and because I wanted to make sure I understood my role in the upcoming delivery.
The doctor was late so we ended up sitting in the waiting room for over an hour with dozens of other patients.
Luckily for us, there was an educational TV channel on to keep us well-informed. Unluckily for us, the information was about the Sauna Belt.
The TV was showing an American infomericial made in Southern California (no offense to my friends there).
Apparently, people in Southern California are all young, blond, attractive, and find numerous articles of clothing unnecessary. Most importantly, they all keep their unrealistic figures by wearing a Sauna Belt.
The whole thing was dubbed into Hindi. Most of the clichés did not translate well. (You’ll have to trust me on that one.)
The Sauna Belt, which this infomerical was trying to sell, is a 12-inch-wide plastic and vinyl belt that you wrap around your stomach. It's battery-powered to create heat. Lots of heat. Allegedly, this will help you lose weight. You will become beautiful, thin, happy and fulfilled.
It was 100 degrees in the waiting room. All of the patients were dripping with sweat, yet almost everybody was studying the idea with apparent seriousness. There was a toll-free number where Hindi speaking operators would take your credit card information, and arrange for a courier to send you this thing.
My wife and I found it rather amusing. Why, exactly, when one is already drenched with sweat, would one want to wrap oneself in hot plastic and vinyl? We tried, mostly with success, to hide our giggles.
You will be happy to know there was also a toll-free number for Bangladesh, in case any Bangladeshi's want to order the Sauna Belt.