Ramblings, both specific and vague.

Ramblings, both specific and vague.

I was at the gym yesterday and had a thought, not a new one, regarding the other folks working out around me. It's sort of a personal conundrum for me. When you work out at roughly the same time as many days a week as I do, you start to recognize lots of faces. And the fact that you're all there, doing the same thing, at the same time, creates a false camaraderie. I'm sure it's this mistaken notion of actual social manifestation that leads so many dunderheaded guys to actually think it's appropriate to hit on a girl at the gym.*

Personally I draw inspiration from the people I see on a daily basis. (Yes, even the creepy older dude that insists on walking around the locker room completely naked. He grosses me out, but he is there every day, so I admire his dedication.) Though now that I've written that, and am really starting to think about it, there is a certain 5th-grade girl-crazy mentality that I must be harboring under the surface. I take great pains not to look at cute girls at the gym for fear they will think I'm yet another dunderheaded dude checking them out. But if I notice them to that extent, and have to actively think of averting my gaze, aren't the same motivations at work under the surface? I'm not making the leap to assume that because they are cute, and at the gym the same time as I am, that we are inhabiting some shared experience that warrants any sort of conversation, but I guess I can understand the basis of other dunderheaded dudes' reactions to the confusing social situation at the gym.

Jesus, I think I just confused myself. I admit I started this with the intention of pointing out what a grand egalitarian fellow I am when it comes to the social inner workings of sensitive communal activities, but I think I have to admit that while I have the internal mechanism in place to keep from acting like an asshole, it doesn't change the fact that I still possess the facility to think like an asshole.

I've been doing quite of bit of mental surveying lately, due to a situation that's arisen that I don't feel free to comment on at the moment. Suffice to say it's the sort of thing that forces one to takes a step back and really take stock of who they are and why they do what they do. Other detritus -- like the above rambling -- gets broken loose when you do something like this, and sometimes that makes it hard to focus on the task at hand. At the same time, you often have to sift through miles of mud before finding even the faintest glimmer of gold, so it's all part of the process.

That sounds like some out of a goddamned self-help book doesn't it? Yuck-o.

So what three major points did we learn from today's unfocused rambling?

• Tankboy respects people who make a commitment to working out on a regular basis.
• Tankboy thinks guys shouldn't be checking girls out at the gym.
  
• Tankboy thinks girls at the gym are hot.
• Tankboy can be a bit of a hypocrite, huh?

*For the record guys, that's just creepy. Trust me when I say workout outfits, no matter how revealing, are NOT meant to impress you and elicit a verbal come-on.