About Me

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I am a retired English teacher and department head, the mother of three grand mother of four, and have been married to the same man for 52 years. I subscribe to Dr. PM Forni's concept of Civility. I was born in South Philadelphia and grew up in the 'burbs. I love soft pretzels and cheesesteaks, the Phillies, the Eagles, and San Diego. I love being Mom, Aunt Kathy, Nona Kathy, and Teacher. I spend a lot of time in my gardens in the spring and summer, and in the winter I plan what I'm going to plant. I also am an avid reader and photographer.

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Wednesday, December 10, 2008

Musings from the Gym

Today I need to clean the floor of the sun porch because we have yoga out there this afternoon. I also want to decorate the inside of the house. Older daughter carried all the boxes up from the basement for me. She's a good kid -- er adult. At any rate, I went to the gym early so I could work uninterrupted throughout the day.

I got a parking space easily this morning -- always a treat -- and then headed in to begin my workout. The cardio room in our gym has five TV's on the wall and then three rows of bikes, two rows of elliptical machines, and two rows of Stair-Masters behind them all facing the wall with the large-screens. It's a big room, as one can imagine. I climbed onto my machine (#23) (I am so much a creature of habit!) turned on my IPod, earphones in place, and began my workout. That's when I spotted her. I've seen her there before and I can't help staring at her. She's on a bike, pedaling away, reading a book, and at the same time she's dancing!!! -- she does these routines with her hands and arms -- kind of like conducting but a lot more spastic! It mesmerizes me and I can't look away. Luckily, I'm behind her and she can't see me gawking at her. (I wonder if she can feel me looking at her?) I think what tickles me so is the unabashed way in which she just does her thing. It also amazes me that through all of this she can actually see to read.

Then on the machine next to me is this older woman working out beside her even older husband. She, too, wears earphones, but I think she's forgotten she has them on because she screams talking to him. Now remember, I too am wearing headphones and I'm listening to John Phillip Sousa's marches, Cher, and Jimmy Buffet (my tastes are a little eclectic), but I can't hear my music because she's SCREAMING at her husband. "WHAT'S GOING ON WITH THE GOVERNOR OF ILLINOIS? CAN'T HEAR YOU. WHAD YA SAY?" And then she starts reading to him from Reader's Digest. "DO YOU WANT TO KNOW HOW TO FIX A LEAK IN A SINK? HUH? A SINK, I SAID. NO, A SINK! HOW ABOUT AROUND A DOOR? ARE YA SURE??" It was all I could do not to throttle her and scream, "WILL YOU SHUT THE HELL UP!"

See, Petunia can get nasty, too:).

12 comments:

Gin said...

OMG, I would have said something!! I think people like that should be told they are ruining your workout. It's just common courtesy to be considerate to others who are trying to listen to their music (quietly) as they do their workout!

Jay said...

I definitely would have said something to them. Just like I used to tell people to turn down their TVs when they had Fox News blasting away. I don't know why they always had to turn it up full freaking blast. Very annoying.

KathyA said...

Especially Fox!

Ruth Hull Chatlien said...

OMG. I'd like to think I would have said something, but I don't know if I would have.

I'm sorry you had such an annoying experience.

Cheryl said...

I can picture the dancer. Almost. Pretty cool that she doesn't seem to care what other people think. And, I'm sure I would have said something to the loud woman next to you. I wouldn't have been able to stop myself. :)

KathyA said...

What surprises me is that I didn't say anything! Funny...

Lena said...

I wouldn't have said anything... I am wimpy. It would have annoyed me if I was there, but it made me laugh out loud reading it.

You sound like you have nice days.

KathyA said...

I do. I certainly do. :)

Anonymous said...

So...don't you feel like you got a great workout AND have learned how to fix leaks?? LOL

KathyA said...

Susan -- LOL Hard!

Andrew said...

Hey! Thanks for your comment on my blog! I feel like I already know you from Cheryl and the nice things she has said about you! Cheryl never fails to recommend good people to read. I've got you bookmarked and will stop in everyday. Thank you for giving me the chance to get to know you better.

Sincerely,
Andrew

bonnie said...

Such coordination in the dancer-reader-biker! No sweat in her eyes? I don't like the club because I fell off the treadmill. Yup, I did. Bruised my hip and scraped my knees all raw.