Summer Vacation # 3: School Supplies, Starbucks at the Gym… and a Shout-out to the Lone Salsa Dancer…

I went shopping today, and how proud of me are you??? I did not buy a single pair of shoes! Instead I bought SCHOOL SUPPLIES. Yes, that time of year is coming. The smell of freshly sharpened pencils, the buzz of kids running around, it is all less than a month away. The only real thing that I am dreading about the up coming school year is of course the ungodly hour at which I will have to start my day. It is oh so nice to wake up at a beautiful hour of 8 AM versus my normal 4:30 AM, make my way to the local gym and fight for machines with mobs of stay at home moms and an odd mixture of old people. Ah yes, the 8 AM crowd is a breed all its own. They try and talk to you… I’m used to people communicating via grunting at 4:30 AM. It is an unspoken (literally) rule which we all follow. Because, dude if I have my head phones in that should tell you I don’t want to talk. I mean really! I’m trying to run. Who can run at 7 mph and talk at the same time? Apparently I am the only person unable to complete this form of multi tasking. But what really kills me are the people who bring Starbucks to the gym. Is it just me, or does that not defeat the purpose of going to the gym? Do they not realize that the venti caramel frap that they just drank would take them 4 grueling hours with Jose in the cycling class to burn off? The thought of 1 hour of cycling with Jose is enough to keep me clear of Jell-O, let alone something dowsed in caramel. But really, the worst of the worst are the girls who wear makeup to the gym. I’ll be honest, half the time I don’t even match at the gym. The people at the gym should be glad a brush my teeth! But makeup, really that is just too much to ask! And what really bugs me is that these girls just sit on machines and never work out. “Why?” you ask. Simple, they don’t want to mess up their makeup. But in the midst of my irritation with the guy next to me on the treadmill trying to talk to me as I listen to rave techno and the girl on the other side of me (just standing there looking at herself in the mirror instead of even walking on the treadmill), there is one thing that brings a smile to my face… the dancing man. Yes, there is a guy who salsa dances in between reps. The lone salsa dancer, he doesn’t care who is watching, he doesn’t care if they are playing T.I. or Lady Gaga, he is still doing the Cuban shuffle with a twist of salsa. Amazingly no one tries to talk to him at the gym… maybe I should bring some Celia Cruz and bust a move between my reps…