I have started going to the gym four days a week. This is primarily to lose a few pounds, but also to build some muscle tone that I haven’t really had since I swam in high school. Even then I wasn’t really ripped, but I was in much better shape.
I joined 24 hour fitness, as there is a facility in Pasadena that has a pool, and another facility close to work. When I signed up I took advantage of the two free sessions with a personal trainer. He and I went over some basic excersizes and whatnot for the upper body. My legs are fine, and getting my abs isn’t too difficult. When we were done my arms were like pantyhose filled with jello. The routine we set up was that I would go four times a week, working on upper body two days, then lower the other two. It has been working out pretty well so far.
The gym is a weird place. I’m used to people not making eye contact and everything, but this place is unreal. I understand that in this day and age it’s just a given that women won’t make eye contact because the man will inevitably think that the woman would like to go back to his place or something. Whatever. But at the gym it’s even more obvious. I mean, when I’m on the treadmill for 15 minutes with nothing but a mirror in front of me, I’m going to look into it. And in that mirror, there is obviously the reflections of everyone else who are also running and not getting anywhere. I try and acknowledge the presence of men and women alike, but to no avail. The only contact you’ll have is when someone is next in line for the machine you are currently working on. It’s sad, really. I suppose that it’s just the idealistic Burner within that regrets the state that our world is in socially, but it still makes me sad. When another living person on this rock thinks to look you in the eye and smile, isn’t that enough reason to put the frown away for just one second and smile back, or even give me a nod so I know that the smallest of gestures didn’t go completely unnoticed?
Senoir citizens have it down. I see many where I work, and they’re always so happy to be alive. We chat. They smile at you when you smile at them. They remember what it usedto be like.
Smile. At everyone. If they frown at you, or ignore you, tell them to have a good day. Not only will you be spreading some of that good cheer that seems to have gone the way of the Do-Do, but you’ll also likely confuse this random person for a good minute or two. “Did that guy actually tell me to have a good day? But I didn’t buy anything from him?” It’s a damn shame.