THE LADIES AT MY GYM
I much prefer the evening crowd to the morning crowd at my gym, but feel a sense of accomplishment when I get up early to get exercise out of the way before my morning cup of coffee. Unfortunately, with the morning, comes the happy, chatty, morning-types of which I am not.
I don't worry too much about the being 50 or 60 until I listen to the mindless banter these seemingly agreeable and intelligent women have in the locker room. I try to avoid their conversations about their rich husbands, Pottery Barn plates, and trips to France, but will all of the blow drying and scurrying about, they just talk louder to cover up the whirring and spraying. My theory: they just want everyone to hear what they are talking about. Therefore, I don't feel bad "spying" because it's not like I'm going to great lengths to overhear these conversations. If you can even call them "conversations." Let's give them another name - Overly Loud Discussions Proving I'm Better Than You.... or OLD PIBTY. I've over heard a lot of OLD PIBTY in the locker room. It's the Howard Stern effect- you hate it so much, that you just have to listen.
These ladies like to use the word "wonderful." It is used in abundance, whether they are talking about the wonderful marinade made for a classy dinner party, or the wonderful wine and cheese event before the opening of a wonderful play. Also discussed are their husband's stock market successes, or so-and-so's husband's stock market successes. They never speak of successes of their own. Perhaps marinade is a success?...
The ladies also like to compliment each other, usually on shoes. But, the topic of one woman's shoes usually leads to a discussion of boutiques (they are never called STORES) either in Los Gatos or Saratoga where they like to "sale" shop. We regular people know that a sale at a boutique is not a sale at all.
When their pilates instructor comes in they gang up on her like a group of high school wannabe's, asking her all kinds of fitness questions, complimenting her, making comments about different muscles or other classes they've taken. That's right everyone -- they take the same fitness classes. And why wouldn't they? They thrive on competition.
A recent topic of conversation has been: Books on tape. You know, because they are all too busy re-decorating the kitchen to actually sit down and read a book.
Perhaps I'm being too hard on the ladies of the babyboomer generation, but I worry that this may be a trend for women of all generations - one that I am SERIOUSLY out-of-the-loop on. Aren't these the same women who went to Woodstock, smoked pot, listened to Joni Mitchell, and went braless? Weren't these the women who fought to go to college, took birth control and wrote feminist poetry? What happened?
UPDATE ON FLABULOUSNESS / WEEK 2 / VOLUME 3 (Wednesday)
Last week was pretty, um, weak; I only exercised 3 days: Monday, Tuesday, Thursday. Then I went to Sonoma and drank wine and ate cheese. Oh well. This week has been better.
Accomplishments since Monday: Went to the gym 3 mornings in a row, tried a fitness class: flow yoga, brought my lunch to work 2 out of 3 days, have eaten no pizza or beer for 4 days.
2 comments:
Thank you, Phyl. These are only about 3-4 women at my gym. Everything else about my gym ROCKS. And yes, I am going to start running outside a bit more.
Our blogs do seem to converge. I've read a lot on women/marriage/kids and what women want and don't want and how they manage all of it. I'm no closer to a resolution. I definitely don't want to grow up and become an OLD PIBTY. I think that men do the same thing though, golfing and talking about stocks and such. Maybe we just expect more from women? Maybe we need to start expecting more from men - not in a breadwinner sort of way but in a domestic way?
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