Friday, September 09, 2005

Random Kibbles & Bits

Collection of some gym-related observations and thoughts:

A few days ago, while in the locker room at my gym, the large man next to me turned to me in his underwear and asked, "Did you used to live in the Brandywine?" (The Brandywine is a rando apartment bldg in Van Ness on CT. I moved out in June) "Yes..." I responded. The man the informed me that he recognized me from the building's fitness room (which is about the size of a closet on any episode of Cribs), but that he moved out of the building over 6 months ago.

This encounter was slightly uncomfortable. First, I'm generally not friendly to people I don't know. It's a combination of the fact that I'm 1) not always friendly in general and 2) shy / hesitant around people I don't know well or feel comfortable with. Second, this large man was standing in his underwear, standing over me like the eye in LOTR. I'm sorry, but I am not Frodo (despite Dale's tendency to call me a gnome when he's had one too many of my bitch pills). I was very polite, without being inviting, and the conversation ended almost as quickly as it began. Third, this gym is downtown (as opposed to the uber cruisy gyms in Dupont), and while I don't think this guy was trying to pick me up, are random conversations in the locker room not a little unsettling to anyone else? Whenever I'm in the locker room, I feel as though most guys are trying to get in and get out as quickly and efficiently as possible. Such an atmosphere does not encourage small talk. Neither does the fact that many guys feel very uncomfortable or possibly vulnerable standing around a bunch of other half / completely naked men.

Another gym-related issue. There's this guy, who upon entering the gym, goes immediately to the elliptical machines. Keep in mind, he's in his work clothes. He opens his gym bag, places roughly 7 or so towels on the machine as well as a CD, and then heads to the locker room. Sidebar, you should see him on the elliptical, talk about intense! While I do not feel guilty about warming up on the treadmill, leaving my stuff at the machine, going to stretch, and then immediately come back, I feel as though calling "dibs" on a piece of equipment before you're ready to use it is a bit much. Granted, this guy generally arrives at the gym before it gets too crowded, so he's not reserving the last available machine, but I simply don't understand this behavior.

On a final note, WSC has decided to open a 24-hour facility in the Washington area! I was notified of this decision a few weeks ago, and while I have no problems getting to the gym during regular hours, I was excited by the news nonetheless. This week, I discovered which gym was selected as the 24-hour location. Any guesses? If you said "Glover Park," you were right! I went over to Metro's web site to see how I could go about arriving at the Glover Park WSC (which is on Wisconsin, btw). Who wants to guess how many different buses I would have to take to get there from Dupont? 3! Despite it's lack of impact on my life, I'm really curious as to any theories readers may have regarding WSC's selection. I've got some half-baked ideas, but I will refrain from sharing for now.

P.S. This is how Dale greeted me this morning (over IM):
Dale: you were in my dream last night
Dale: you were trying to shoot me
Dale: but it's ok you ended up dying later on

3 comments:

DC said...

1) Tot's uncomfortable.... one time I had a guy tell me he liked to "watch me stretch" which made me want to wash myself with bleach and a brillo pad.

2) I hate people that "call" machines... one time some heffer tried to pull that on me, that she was 'saving' it for her friend. I told her that that was nice of her, but it was a shame that it couldn't work out for her that way.... ZING!

3)that's really weird, glover park? you'd think the downtown one so that staffers with wicked late/early hours can get a little gym time... oh well.

4)It's true you WERE in my dream, but you had an overcoat and really thick glasses and a hat on so I didn't recognize you till you were dying... odd....

A Unique Alias said...

I'd move that bastard's stuff and use the machine just to spite him. What's he going to say? "You touched my towels!"

Anonymous said...

Your behavior is very typical of this God forsaken shit hole. Why can't you be more friendly to strangers and who the hell cares if it's in a locker room? Lighten up Bitch!