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Chrisco915
Banned
To Schmoe or not to Schmoe……………that is the question.
If you are anything like me, you spent your formative years in the gym learning (amongst other things) that prolonged chit-chatting and meandering socialite groups yucking it up in front of frequently used equipment is blasphemous. Those lessons kept me withdrawn during my workouts and rather unapproachable looking (as I have been recently informed) to those that crossed my path. Perhaps, like me, you have seen the same people day after day……week after week for years and have never even spoken to them. You have checked out the attractive woman in the tight black bike shorts or the handsome man in the tank top and not said hello out of embarrassment or didn’t want to bother them while they worked out. Many times you have passed one another and looked past each other or made eye contact and quickly looked away or nodded or got caught checking each other out in the mirrors(don’t deny it….you have been caught at least once).
But what if you actually said hello? Would you appear creepy and make it seem like you are hitting on the person? What if you overcame the embarrassing longevity of not expressing the common decency of saying “Hello” during all that time? Would they just scowl and walk away? What if you actually just said, “I am sorry, but I feel rather rude for not introducing myself after all the times we have passed each other in here….I’m <insert name>”. Would they destroy your pre-conceived fantasy persona of them and ruin it? It was time to find out.
Obviously, I do not recommend this course of action while someone is mid-set or cruising a hellacious cardio session…but between sets or while stretching one might be able to learn a thing or two about the people they are surround by that share the same passion for the gym.
So…….I took this mind set to the gym. Instead of pacing like a wild animal between sets, I remained relatively stationary and made eye contact and said hello to people that acknowledged my presence. To my surprise, quite a few of my pre-determined write-offs had a quite a few interesting tidbits of wisdom about music, movies, nutrition, training and other fascinating subjects. Yes….a few fantasies were destroyed by self-centeredness, rudeness, lack of intelligence and social grace, gym etiquette……..and yes, some people just suck. But the positive far outweighed the negative. I am not saying I am evolving into the ever irritating social butterfly of the place; but I must admit that I feel rather liberated by breaking the irrational unspoken bond in today’s societal lack of interest in anything that does not relate directly to them.
I walked away from this with a few things I didn’t start out with. Far more smiles and hellos entering the gym after a hard days work(which actually feels pretty good), a new workout partner that shares a belief in the same training, personal and musical principles I do and more people that understand me and my perchance to appear unfriendly(which is far from the truth). For all this…I feel more connected to my gym and its people. It has become a more comfortable “home away from home”. I really do suggest it……even if only for one day.
If you are anything like me, you spent your formative years in the gym learning (amongst other things) that prolonged chit-chatting and meandering socialite groups yucking it up in front of frequently used equipment is blasphemous. Those lessons kept me withdrawn during my workouts and rather unapproachable looking (as I have been recently informed) to those that crossed my path. Perhaps, like me, you have seen the same people day after day……week after week for years and have never even spoken to them. You have checked out the attractive woman in the tight black bike shorts or the handsome man in the tank top and not said hello out of embarrassment or didn’t want to bother them while they worked out. Many times you have passed one another and looked past each other or made eye contact and quickly looked away or nodded or got caught checking each other out in the mirrors(don’t deny it….you have been caught at least once).
But what if you actually said hello? Would you appear creepy and make it seem like you are hitting on the person? What if you overcame the embarrassing longevity of not expressing the common decency of saying “Hello” during all that time? Would they just scowl and walk away? What if you actually just said, “I am sorry, but I feel rather rude for not introducing myself after all the times we have passed each other in here….I’m <insert name>”. Would they destroy your pre-conceived fantasy persona of them and ruin it? It was time to find out.
Obviously, I do not recommend this course of action while someone is mid-set or cruising a hellacious cardio session…but between sets or while stretching one might be able to learn a thing or two about the people they are surround by that share the same passion for the gym.
So…….I took this mind set to the gym. Instead of pacing like a wild animal between sets, I remained relatively stationary and made eye contact and said hello to people that acknowledged my presence. To my surprise, quite a few of my pre-determined write-offs had a quite a few interesting tidbits of wisdom about music, movies, nutrition, training and other fascinating subjects. Yes….a few fantasies were destroyed by self-centeredness, rudeness, lack of intelligence and social grace, gym etiquette……..and yes, some people just suck. But the positive far outweighed the negative. I am not saying I am evolving into the ever irritating social butterfly of the place; but I must admit that I feel rather liberated by breaking the irrational unspoken bond in today’s societal lack of interest in anything that does not relate directly to them.
I walked away from this with a few things I didn’t start out with. Far more smiles and hellos entering the gym after a hard days work(which actually feels pretty good), a new workout partner that shares a belief in the same training, personal and musical principles I do and more people that understand me and my perchance to appear unfriendly(which is far from the truth). For all this…I feel more connected to my gym and its people. It has become a more comfortable “home away from home”. I really do suggest it……even if only for one day.
