About ten times a month Rose Meyers will receive a letter from a stranger detailing what’s often a pretty weird problem.
Each letter arrives with a check for $8 and the hope that Meyers one-woman Zeek Sheck Care Company, will alleviate the problem.
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Meyers lives in an old Schlitz tavern on the near west side. Tangled computer cables and disassembled stereos plucked from Dumpsters hang on the walls of her bedroom, which doubles as a recording studio where she considers her clients’ ills. Sometimes, if their letters are vague, she’ll phone them for more information. “Everything seems solvable if you think it out,” says Meyers, who works as a secretary and has no background in psychology. When she’s satisfied she knows what’s best for them, she’ll record a personalized tape meant to be played night after night as they sleep.
Soon Meyers says, her friends found themselves breaking old habits; one no longer felt compelled to wear a bag as a hat, another stopped grinding her teeth. About three months ago Meyers branched out, soliciting problems from the public under the pseudonym Zeek Sheck. Her clients learn about her service from her ad in Lumpen, by word-of-mouth, or at her performances, where Meyers, inspired by infomercials, gives an enthusiastic and lengthy testament to the effectiveness of rebrainwashing, appearing both as the afflicted and Zeek the savior. After the show she peddles premade tapes for relaxation and deconstipation and encourages audience members to fill out a form describing their “deleteable problems in full.” In a theatrical vein–and because “you never know what someone’s going to want”-the form offers an added bonus. Would you care for advice delivered in the voice of a high-pitched squeaky girl, God, a priest, your mother, an auctioneer, or a growling dog? No problem. Check the box. “I’m versatile,” Meyers says matter-of-factly. So far, though, no client has requested the dog growl, a good thing, since-if a recent demonstration is any indication-Meyers tends to interrupt her growling with fits of laughter.
For more information on Meyer’s rebrainwashing write to Zeek Sheck Care Company, 1958 W. Walnut, Chicago 60612; or call 773-243-1227.
