Photo and promised anecdotes

Here's the promised photo of Bryce, Marsha, their two kids - Wes and Katelynn, and (slouching!) Auntie Sarah.

And the promised anecdotes...

Anecdote #1 - Now, why would she ask me that?

It's a good thing there's a photo here, because you can all see what I was wearing yesterday... Another conference delegate, some woman who was... a bit senior, shall we say -- and someone I'd never met before, stops me in the middle of campus and says, "You look like you'd know about this... Have you found the fitness centre yet?"

I just said, "Uh... no... sorry... Don't know where it is..."

I was puzzled... Why on earth would she ask me, of all people?

This caused me to ask myself... What made her think I'd actually know?

I'm throwing this one out there because the only thing I can come up with is "thunder thighs"... sigh...

And in case you're wondering, no I was not wearing running shoes... Shoes would have been a dead giveaway right? But no... Just some clog-like mules... big clunky things that fit my orthotics... but nothing you'd wear to work out, that's for sure.

Anecdote #2 - York U. beefcake made me wanna wretch

That woman, along with Janice's comment from a previous post, made me think that it might be worthwhile to actually find the fitness centre and see if I could get a real workout in.

Much as Zouzoux's comment about nicknaming me Trinity, from the Matrix movie was flattering, I have to say, it just made me laugh. There were no bullets to dodge for the rest of the weekend and I could only ever hope to have a body like that. As they say, it doesn't hurt to dream, but reality is quite a bit different, I'm afraid!

Having said that, the tubing is great, but I have to admit... I got a little bored after 60 reps of each exercise... and still didn't feel particularly challenged. The thought of an actual workout rather piqued my interest. I thought I'd go check it out and see if I could arrange for a day pass. So, I went on a mission to find the York U. gym.

I asked at the conference info desk, located in a nice, central building and got some very convoluted instructions which was drawn out on a campus map for me and a not-so-encouraging, "It should only take you about 15 minutes to walk there."

"15 minutes? To walk to the fitness centre? Sheesh, they don't make it easy for people, do they?" I thought to myself, as I headed off with the map in hand. It only took about 8 minutes, but still... it still seemed off the beaten track a bit.

When I got there, the doors to the building had signs on them: "Please use south doors."

I looked up in the sky. It was around 1:00 p.m. Sun almost directly overhead. No other indication of which way was south. My outdoor survival skills would probably let me do just that... "survive"... which is quite different than "thrive". I had no idea which way was south. Needless to say, I had to circle almost the entire perimeter of the building before I found the one open door.

I went in and found a front desk with some security turnstyles there... along with rather fit-looking dark haired young guy working the desk, probably a student. "I'm attending a conference here and wanted to find out if I could work out." I said.

"Gimme your ID," he said, smacking his chewing gum. Now, I have nothing against gum per se. I've been known to chew it myself. But this was... well... a bit obvious... and loud.

"My ID?" I said.

"Yeah... Ya know... that name tag around yer neck." I looked down and then took off the name tag on the landyard that identified me as a conference participant and gave it to him.

He said, "Locker rooms to the left."

I said, "Oh, I don't have my stuff with me right now, I just wanted some information... How much does it cost?"

He rolled his eyes, smacked his gum again and said, "It's free."

"Oh... cool!" I said... "How about lockers? Can I rent a day locker?"

He sighed and nonchalantly replied, "Also free. Whatcha wanna do?"

"Ummm... cardio and weights." I said.

At that point, things changed. He quite obviously looked me up and down, and then... get this... flexed his chest muscles, leaned forward and in between what can only be described as “muscle head grunts” said, “Yeah… we got cardio machines… and weights. We got … everything,” he said in such a way that just made me gag.

More gum smacking.

Ugh.

I was annoyed. I thought, "Ya know... You might be a beefcake, but with an attitude like that, you are an absolute turn off. You're working in a customer service job, so do your freaking job!"

It’s a personal pet peeve – when someone thinks they are God’s gift to the earth for being some particular way, whether it’s beefy, brainy, beautiful, benevolent or whatever. I mean, we all crap brown, right? Like I said… personal pet peeve. This guy was no exception…

Besides, I've spent my fair share of years working in customer service as a student, so it's not like I'm judging without ever having done a similar type of thing at one point.

Instead of giving him a good smack (which he would have deserved) I just smiled sweetly and said, “Thanks. I’ll be back some other time.”

I did go back for a workout today. That’s worthy of its own post though… Later. For now, I’m going to pack, since I’m heading home tomorrow.

By the way, my presentation is done. I did OK, but not having it listed in the program was a bit of a bummer. Oh well… at least I did it.