Gym Rats Behaving Badly

The past couple of weeks at the gym, AJ and I have seen some not so cool behavior. Maybe it's the teacher in me that wants to give the "look" and a lecture about being aware of your surroundings and being polite.

Photo from sheknows.com

Here's some of the behavior we've seen and why it makes me fear for humanity:

1) The shoe-less. No, not in yoga class, just weight lifting or doing some abs. WHY?! There's a father/son duo that are all about the sock workouts. They walk in, slip off their shoes, and get down to business. No one wants to see/smell your socks or your gym shoes.

2) The cell phone speaker talker. NO ONE wants to hear your conversations and we don't think you're so important that you must elliptical and talk simultaneously. Even with my headphones in (jamming to TSwift, who else?), I can still hear the chatter. Be nice, be respectful....it's rude to other gym goers AND the person you're on the phone with.

3) The no headphone music mogul. Like the pet peeve above, NO ONE wants to listen to your tunes out loud. Twice this week I've seen errrr, heard, people with their own speakers blasting their tunes while they workout. We have about a dozen twisted up, tangled ear buds in our junk drawer....I'm thinking I should bring them in. Hint hint.

4) The Machine Hopper. These are people who are doing interval training aka: annoying the crap outta me. These folks set the weights (and it usually differs from my 25 lb. max) and then do a minute or two on each machine, sometimes they up the ante and pop on an elliptical or treadmill too. If you try and hop in on their weight machine, they remind you they're using it....along with every other machine in the gym.

5) The shirt-less. Potentially related to the shoe-less in number 1. These guys like to show it off. Put a shirt on, this is a family show.

I'm not a perfect gym goer either. AJ has helped remind me to wipe down every machine every time. I'm learning. But overall, so much of what I have seen the gym is a reflection of what I see other places: rudeness and a disregard for those around you. It scares me when I see people barking on their phones in restaurants or in stores. I don't like seeing people walking around the neighborhood always in earbuds and unaware of others. What will it all look like in 10 years? Will we forget how to smile and talk? Eye contact? Forget it.  Life's like the gym: we are all putting in the time to better ourselves and inspire those around us.....let's smile and be open to those around us. Let's be present with those we are interacting with. These are good "rules" to abide by...oh, and don't change the channel on the machine in front of me when I'm in the last 10 minutes of a great House Hunters episode, mmmkay?