Snake Oil

My friend who works at a butcher shop, noticed that my hands can get pretty dry. When I visit her, she will often touch my hands to test their dryness. This means that sometimes she will have just grabbed some beef and cut it up, and then, without washing her hands, will start touching my hands. I am not grossed out by this, but I do make sure I disinfect my hands when I leave her shop.

She said that my hands needed some lotion, so one days she gave me a lotion bottle: snake oil lotion. She, along with some of my other local friends, think snake oil will fix all my dry skin issues. I am allergic to many types of lotions, but surprisingly, I am not allergic to snake oil. I was very grateful for her gift, but when I told Alvin he started to laugh.

He told me that people use the phrase "snake oil" to identify fake medicines or placebos. I found a Wiki article that talked about the root of the expression; it involves Chinese immigrants to the states bringing in snake oil even though it may have been just a placebo for many joint ailments.

Hopefully the snake oil my friend bought me is effective and will make my skin less dry, not make be break out in eczema, and help me with all my joint ailments, even though I don't have any right now.