Ever been seasick? I mean, hang your head over the side and hurl up what feels like major organs? It’s not a good feeling, especially when your buddies are pulling in one fish after another, smoking green cigars and offering you a big bite of their teriyaki beef jerky. But even old salts like me get queasy once in a while. That’s why I gladly offered advice on a phone call with Mark Spears from Phoenix.
MARK: A bunch of us have chartered a fishing boat next weekend, Cap’n Greg, and I’m worried.
CAP’N GREG: What’s the problem?
MARK: I get seasick watching Pirates of the Caribbean in a theater. How will I ever be able to survive the actual ocean?
CAP’N GREG: Mind over matter, my friend. You gotta roll with the waves when they lift the boat up and down, and rock it from side to side, and fore and aft, and…
MARK: Stop it Cap’n Greg! I’m about to lose my lunch.
CAP’N GREG: Sorry about that, Mark. You ever used Dramamine or other motion sickness pills?
MARK: Might as well put a finger down my throat. They don’t work at all.
CAP’N GREG: Sounds like you may be a candidate for kung fu medicine.
MARK: What? You gonna kick me unconscious?
CAP’N GREG: Not at all. It’s an ancient Chinese tradition to use pressure points to relieve pain and discomfort.
MARK: You mean like acupuncture?
CAP’N GREG: Something close to that. Go to Walgreens or another drug store and right there by the Dramamine, many of them sell pressure cuffs, which are elastic bands that fit around your wrists. On each is a small plastic bump that pushes against a specific pressure point under your skin. Just follow the directions for proper placement.
MARK: Sounds like some sort of voodoo magic, but I’ll give it a try, Cap’n Greg.
CAP’N GREG: It sure did work for my wife. She used to dread going out in our boat on a less than totally flat ocean. Nothing worked for her until she tried the pressure cuffs, and now she can take any kind of sea.
MARK: Amazing.
CAP’N GREG: Yup. Even if the boat is rolling up and down…or rocking back and forth…or bouncing sideways…or sliding into a deep swell…or…
MARK: Bleeeeeah! Urrrgh! Bwaaww!
CAP’N GREG: Glad I could help, Mark.
