GYM RATS

(sigh)

I'm a member at this gym, see, where I go to torture myself three times a week. I go because I know I should, not because I particularly enjoy it. There ARE some aspects of it that are pleasant, such as the feeling of accomplishment once I've worked out and the nice friendships I've made with people who are there for the same reason I am and nothing more.

And then there are the gym rats.

I've been trying to decide for a year now if they are there out of sheer love for the bench press, if they're hooked on the endorphin high from a strenuous workout, or if they're there entirely for the social aspect. For a few, I've decided it's the first two reasons; but for the majority, I think it's the social aspect.

Take Carlie, for instance. This is a thirty-something, average-looking woman who has been at the gym every day that I have for the past 15 months. She is there mornings when I am, has been there in the afternoon when I've returned to retrieve a lost item, has been there several evenings when I took friends to try to interest them in joining. She's there when I get there, still there when I leave. She seems to know every individual who walks through the door in addition to the manager, the receptionists, the personal trainers, the folks who work in the beauty salon, the juice counter people. Does she work out? I THINK so. I have seen her on an exercise bike a couple of times and on the treadmill once. But mostly she just HANGS OUT....sipping on a mango shake or reading the latest fitness mags or jawing with the help. Bless her heart.

The people who seem to be truly dedicated are the guys. They're always pumping iron, strutting around in their skimpy little gym shorts re-adjusting themselves, wiping sweat from their brows with their forearms. There are some really buff ones, too, but they crack me up walking in with their $50 razor haircuts and year-round tans. You can't help but look at'em, but they just don't ring true somehow.

It's an experience, believe me. A really good gym can put people-watching in the record books.

(sigh)