I'll have a large special brew, please, while I tell you what I did last night.
I went to a lecture given by a Professor of Pain (yes, really) from a local university. He confirmed women report pain at lower stimulation thresholds (using heat, cold, pressure) than men do, but the jury's still out whether they experience it worse or complain about it sooner.
He explained about the conflicting feelings of pain and pleasure. When we, say, stub a toe on a rock, we instinctively try to rub it. This is because rubbing (as well as heat and tingly electricity [TENS] ) is a pleasurable sensation for our body. So the brain, getting both pain signals from the injury and pleasure signals from the rubbing, finds it hard to process both at one, and shuts the 'pain gates' that transmit the pain signals.
So onlookers, if you want to relieve the agony of the girl on the cross, there is a scientific basis for giving her pleasure; it's not mearly a distraction for her.
And the pain receptors in the skin do get more sensitive following injury (the body's way to prevent further injury) so there is also a scientific basis to the practice of 'warming up' a backside by spanking before the real stuff begins.
Of course the Coffee Shop would need more than one such devices, so I would gladly offer my own anatomy for this purpose.
