I don’t know if it’s me, or women in general or just people in my generation, but I am a chronic multi-tasker. I am perpetually doing or thinking about multiple things at once. Frequently, when Andy and I are in the car, I’m singing along with whatever song is playing, bouncing in my seat (with the seatbelt on, of course), looking up stuff on my phone, and holding a conversation with him. He doesn’t understand how I can be listening to him and singing at the same time, but it seems completely natural to me and I can always repeat back what he’s said. Andy says that medically speaking, it’s due to the fact that I have a larger corpus callosum than he does, but since I’m not a doctor, that doesn’t mean very much to me. Today I had one of my most egregious instances of multi-tasking while I was running on the elliptical, listening (and bouncing) to my iPod, reading a book, and text messaging – all at the same time. Somehow I managed not to fall off the elliptical even while doing all the above things, though I did spell a few things wrong in my texts to Tyler.
I read somewhere once that all the technological advances born in the modern era have had the end result of increasing the things we do in a day, rather than saving us time. Apparently, even with a washing machine, a dryer, and a dishwasher, people now spend more time doing laundry and dishes than ever before. 50 years ago, people didn’t spend their afternoons text messaging each other, nor did they have as great of a compulsion to go to the gym. I wonder what that kind of simplicity is like… I don’t think I can slow my brain down enough to wrap my head around what my life would be like without all the “stuff” I cram into it. I know I’m a slave to my technology – my Blackberry is perpetually within an arm’s reach or I start having a panic attack, my iPod is a constant companion, and I treat my laptop with as much reverence as a sentient being. I know it’s not necessary to text message Jeff, Google chat with Matt, Andy, and Tyler, and email Whitney in the same 15 minute period (while getting a pedicure no less), but it’s so easy to do with my Blackberry, so why not? So I just admitted it, I’m a multi-tasker. I know I’m kind of an extreme case, but what do you do when you find yourself multi-tasking?
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Since my post about the gym has been my most popular in recent history (special thanks to Marianna and Erin for your input!), I have another gym story to share. I was running on the elliptical today, about 15 minutes into my 45 minute run. Suddenly, the fire alarm went off – sirens blared, lights flashed. There was one other guy in the gym at the time and we just looked at each other, silently wondering if we should leave the building, ignore the alarm, or do something else entirely. After a few seconds of running through different scenarios, a woman’s voice rang through the building and said “May I have your attention please?” The other guy in the gym and I looked at each other, took our headphones out, and waited. And nothing happened. Mentally, I calculated how long it would take me to run up 5 flights of stairs, get the cats in their carriers, and run back down in the event of an actual emergency. I really just didn’t want to interrupt my time at the gym, a time which I relish every day. The sirens stopped but the lights still flashed. Eventually, we both put the headphones back in and opted to ignore the fire alarm. It must have been a test because nothing happened. But what’s the proper decorum in a situation like that? Is it like fire alarms in your dorm (which you completely ignore and just turn your music up), or is it like high school and you leave the building in neat, orderly lines?
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One of the very best parts of living in Miami, and living in our condo more specifically, has been the gym downstairs. I go every day (or at least every weekday) and I run on the elliptical and lift weights. Not only have I lost some of the “island weight” (weight which I gained not on the island, but on our trips home in between semesters when we gorged ourselves on food that actually tasted good), but I feel better, sleep better, and it’s a good break in my day to go out. It’s very easy to find yourself sitting at home all day and never leaving the apartment when you work from home. Plus, there really is no excuse not to go when I just have to walk (or take the elevator on lazy days) down five floors. There are a few things I’ve seen here that do bother me in the gym, so I thought I’d share a few of my pet peeves.
- Women wearing makeup and having perfect hair while exercising. I talked to my friend Abby about it and she agrees with me: this irritates all women who actually work hard enough to sweat. By the end of my workout, I’m red, sweaty, and my hair is clinging to my scalp in patches. The aforementioned women that bother me have a face full of makeup and not a strand is out of place as they delicately prance on the treadmill – they never sweat, they just “glisten.” These women typically have had certain features… augmented… with the help of a surgeon and always change into stilettos before they leave the gym area. It’s so weird and makes us feel about as graceful as a walrus on the elliptical.
- Grunting. Ugh, it’s so annoying to hear some meat head grunting while he lifts the weights that are probably too heavy for him as he attempts to impress the women I talked about in #1. No one is impressed that you’re lifting something so heavy as to elicit a groan of despair, you just sound like an idiot. These people also drop their weights with such a thud that I’m worried I might fall through the floor, another pet peeve of mine. If you drop something with a crash so heavy I can feel it while running and can hear it through my headphones which are super loud, then there’s a problem.
- Turning on the overhead radio (which we all have to listen to while we work out) to a Spanish station. Yes, I understand that 80% of our building are Spanish speakers, but is it really necessary to make me listen to Latin music while I’m trying to do my workout? Everyone in there has an mp3 player and headphones, so use them! I don’t make everyone in the room listen to what’s on my iPod, so I don’t want to hear your music either.
- Leaving the TVs on the cardio machines on when you’re not using them. It’s so wasteful and unnecessary and it really bugs me (Andy doesn’t understand why it bugs me so much). To me, it’s like leaving a light on in a room that you won’t enter again until later that week.
- Not wiping down the machines when you’re done. Even if you don’t care about wiping down your sweaty mess when you’re done, you would think peer pressure (and those angry glares from people who are watching you not wipe down your machine) would make people wipe down the equipment, but it doesn’t seem to in all cases.
I’m sure there are other things that I’ve noticed that bug me, but those are the main ones. Nevertheless, I’ll gladly put up with these annoyances to be able to have such a great gym so close (and included with rent). Can anyone think of other gauche gym behaviors that you’d add to the list?
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