Sunday, January 17, 2010

Rebellion in the Rec room

This afternoon I went over the Rec center to work out. There weren't very many people there so I decided to use the circuit training machines before I got on the elliptical trainer. I usually start with my legs, then work the stomach and last the arms and chest. I was coming off of my second leg machine when this tiny little lady, probably in her 80's walked right up to me and said, "You didn't wipe the machine down." She was the volunteer that monitors the workout room. I saw her official badge hanging around her neck. On the leg machines I didn't really touch anything with my hands except the little gismo that makes the weight lighter or heavier. So I asked the lady where exactly would she have me wipe. She proceeded to lead me over to where the solution bottle and paper towel dispenser were and demonstrated how to pick up the bottle and pull out a piece of paper. I repeated, "Where am I supposed to wipe, I didn't touch anything with my hands." Then she went on to explain how one can't be too careful with this MRSA going around. In fact she told me I probably should wipe the machine down before I use it as well. She made a jesture with her head and her hand like, "Well what are you waiting for? Go on and get busy!" I visualized myself spending most of my workout time cleaning these machines, which takes longer than using them. I didn't argue with her and never got clarity on where I should wipe. I dutifully took the paper towel, squirted it with solution and went back to the two machines I had used and began to wipe them down. I then looked around the room and noticed all these other men were frantically wiping the machines also. I noticed one old man would wipe a little on the machine he had just used and then sneak a peek to see if she was looking. If she wasn't he would go to the next machine. I thought that was a pretty good strategy, so I adopted his method; I really wanted to finish my workout. This little woman couldn't have been more than 5 feet tall and probably weighed about 90 pounds. I definitely could have taken her in a fight. I guess the up side was I had no fear of getting any bad diseases from these machine. I bet the men in there would later discover that their wiping muscles were sorer than their working out muscles. I finally finished with that portion of my workout and went on to use the elliptical trainer. There are three of these machines in the Rec room. None of them were being used. I chose one, turned on my IPod, put in my ear buds and started working out. To the right of these machines is a grease board. Out of the corner of my eye I saw a lady walk over and write the number of my machine and her name and time on the board. In other words she wanted my machine and will have to wait until I'm done. I continued on but was aware that she was standing there waiting. The rule is that you are only supposed to use the machine for 25 minutes. I had programmed my workout for 30. I wondered if she could see the minutes on my machine. Finally I became so anxious about it, I got off and asked her if she would like to have it now. She thanked me and I hurriedly went over, got the solution and a paper towel and wiped the machine off. I then moved over to the next machine, which to me seemed exactly like the one I was just on. I didn't wipe it off before using it though. I'm that kind of rebel. I did however peek over to see if the monitor was looking.

No comments:

Post a Comment