Workout
Rule breakers
I have a teeny anxiety disorder, and by teeny I mean mammoth, and so I follow the rules precisely. What will happen if I don't follow the rules? I DON'T WANT TO KNOW. Something dire, no doubt. Humiliation, punishment, the end of the world.
So it amazes and impresses me when people at the gym flout the rules. There are signs everywhere asking you not to talk on your cell phone, so naturally there's a guy wandering the cardio area, chatting loudly, leaning against treadmills that are being used by others. I was practically hyperventilating for him. Or then there's the rule that you're not supposed to bring your bags and coats into the exercise areas, so of course a woman brings both and plops them down on an unused recumbent bike. Of course. Then a trainer asks her to remove them and she argues with him.
Part of me is smug that I'm such a goody-two-shoes, but then I sort of wish I could be like them. Thinking that I matter more than the rules. Granted, those people are assholes. But confident assholes.
Also: I worked out.
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Comments
I totally agree! when people chat on their phones while on a machine near me, it drives me nuts, and completely takes me out of the zone.
And last week, someone from the gym started cleaning my treadmill while I was on the machine. I don't think there's a rule against it, but I thought it was dangerous and was not a fan of this stranger's head poking about at thigh level.
Submitted by babarbanel on 02.08.10 at 12:39.
OMG - I am so anal about following the rules too!! About everything and I get incensed when I see others ignoring the rules - I mean, there are rules for a reason people!!
Submitted by michlny on 02.08.10 at 04:32.
I ignore the rules. My main crime? Carrying my bag around the gym because I go through about 1 lock a month and all the combinations started muddling together.
However, I usually stuff my bag beneath the gym's rink or below the dumbbell bars, not on an unused machine.
Confident, considerate asshole here ;)
Submitted by Mr. Mohawk on 02.08.10 at 04:38.
Mr. Mohawk, you are an inspiration. Maybe some day the Prozac will enable me to gently bend some rules, myself.
Meanwhile, I had to go back and edit the title because why did I hyphenate "rule breakers"? Why?
Submitted by alicebradley on 02.08.10 at 08:48.
i'm a rule follower, too, and a former (reformed?) teacher...and I was a hair's breadth away from snagging the cell phones of three teen girls in the locker room. I give no crap about your tanning appointments, ladies...I'm trying to get my zen on!
Submitted by rahree on 02.08.10 at 09:36.