catwoman88
Cathlete
This might get kinda long, but it should provide a little entertainment for everyone.
Last night, hubby and I went to the gym. It was chest & shoulders night. After doing 25 min. of cardio and our drop sets of pushups, I head over to the benches while my hubby gets a sip of water. Some big meathead dude had just set up a step-up bench right next (like a foot away) to the only free bench left, which was only a foot or two away from another dude doing shoulder work on one of those "straight-back, sit-down" benches. This other dude was on the edge of the free weight area, and could not move over any further to make more room for my hubby and I. So, by meathead dragging his step-up bench all the way across the gym (because there is another area for the step-up bench work) and setting it right next to the bench I want to use, meathead has basically rendered my bench useless until he's done.
Okay, so I wait. Once meathead's done doing his step-ups, he'll realize that he needs to scoot over into the football-sized (okay, that's a slight exaggeration) free space directly to his right that for whatever reason he didn't want to put his step-up bench in in the first place. (???????????) Well, meathead finishes his set and walks away to cool down, not in the slightest bit interested in showing a little gym courtesy and politeness by scooting over his bench, even though I've been standing there, obviously waiting for him to do so. So, while he's away, I just take the initiative to scoot my bench away from the dude next to me so my hubby and I can start on our bench presses. Mind you, my bench is now only inches away from meathead's step-up bench.
So, meathead returns, with his headphones securely in place, and shoots me this look. He looks at my bench, then his bench, then looks at me like I'm the devil incarnate. As I'm heading off to the weight rack to get my dumbbells, he continues to glare at me and shoot daggers at me out of his eyes. I wish I could describe the nasty looks he was giving me...but it was like "Hey, stupid girl. What are you doing moving in on my turf." There was an obvious intimidation factor going on.
Not one to be intimidated, I met his glare in the mirror and held his gaze for a moment, waiting for him to say what he obviously wanted to say. When he didn't speak up, I confronted him. With a sharp shrug and a raise of my eyebrows, I looked at him and said, "What? Need to say somethin'?" Meathead proceeded to point out the proximity of our benches as if it was all my fault, so I pointed to the 12-15 feet of empty space directly to his right and told him he had all that free space to work in but instead he had to park his bench a foot away from the bench I wanted to use (again, which was the only available bench left in the whole free weights section). There were a couple of guys working out on the other side of that "free space", near the Smith machine, and meathead replies to me, all defensive and condescending, "Well, I didn't want to mess with them," pointing to the guys by the Smith Machine, like 15 feet away. What a lame-a$$ excuse. I cocked my head and said, "Oh, so now you're gonna mess with me." I just turned around and grabbed my weights and plopped down on my bench and started pressing.
The exchange didn't quite end there, but after a few more choice words, meathead moved over and shut up. The other dudes in the vicinity showed a little respect toward me after that, which was nice, because while I may be the only woman hittin' the free weights, it doesn't mean free weights are "man's land", and it doesn't mean meatheads like that guy can jerk women around. It's intimidating enough in free weights for women without dorks like that guy making it even worse. No wonder more women don't work out in the free weights. I mean, how hard would it have been for meathead to simply realize he'd set up his bench too close to mine and move it into the outrageously large free area to his right? He only needed an area that was 24 inches wide, at most! He still would have had several feet of empty space on either side of him if he'd just moved over.
I know that if I'd been a male, he wouldn't have treated me like that. Which is sad. I suppose I could have asked him to move his bench, but the dude walked away and I seriously doubt asking him to move would have rendered a much more desirable outcome. There was just something too torqued up about him. Roids, maybe??? Not sure.
Afterward, I questioned my reaction and why I snapped back the way I did, and I concluded that it was the way he tried to stare me down, as if he thought that he could intimidate me and make me cower under his glare. As if he was "better" than I am and had more of a right to be using free weights than I did. Well, obviously he picked the wrong "little girl" to try to intimidate, because I don't play that. I've been through a lot worse than meathead can dish, so my backbone has gotten pretty strong through the years.
It was only the third time I can remember where I snapped like that over something, though...and the other two times didn't have anything to do with working out and happened about fifteen years ago. I joked with my hubby afterward that it must have been the shirt I was wearing. I had on a black tank top with a black widow spider on the front. First time I've ever worn it to the gym. Maybe the black widow altered my personality or something. :7
Last night, hubby and I went to the gym. It was chest & shoulders night. After doing 25 min. of cardio and our drop sets of pushups, I head over to the benches while my hubby gets a sip of water. Some big meathead dude had just set up a step-up bench right next (like a foot away) to the only free bench left, which was only a foot or two away from another dude doing shoulder work on one of those "straight-back, sit-down" benches. This other dude was on the edge of the free weight area, and could not move over any further to make more room for my hubby and I. So, by meathead dragging his step-up bench all the way across the gym (because there is another area for the step-up bench work) and setting it right next to the bench I want to use, meathead has basically rendered my bench useless until he's done.
Okay, so I wait. Once meathead's done doing his step-ups, he'll realize that he needs to scoot over into the football-sized (okay, that's a slight exaggeration) free space directly to his right that for whatever reason he didn't want to put his step-up bench in in the first place. (???????????) Well, meathead finishes his set and walks away to cool down, not in the slightest bit interested in showing a little gym courtesy and politeness by scooting over his bench, even though I've been standing there, obviously waiting for him to do so. So, while he's away, I just take the initiative to scoot my bench away from the dude next to me so my hubby and I can start on our bench presses. Mind you, my bench is now only inches away from meathead's step-up bench.
So, meathead returns, with his headphones securely in place, and shoots me this look. He looks at my bench, then his bench, then looks at me like I'm the devil incarnate. As I'm heading off to the weight rack to get my dumbbells, he continues to glare at me and shoot daggers at me out of his eyes. I wish I could describe the nasty looks he was giving me...but it was like "Hey, stupid girl. What are you doing moving in on my turf." There was an obvious intimidation factor going on.
Not one to be intimidated, I met his glare in the mirror and held his gaze for a moment, waiting for him to say what he obviously wanted to say. When he didn't speak up, I confronted him. With a sharp shrug and a raise of my eyebrows, I looked at him and said, "What? Need to say somethin'?" Meathead proceeded to point out the proximity of our benches as if it was all my fault, so I pointed to the 12-15 feet of empty space directly to his right and told him he had all that free space to work in but instead he had to park his bench a foot away from the bench I wanted to use (again, which was the only available bench left in the whole free weights section). There were a couple of guys working out on the other side of that "free space", near the Smith machine, and meathead replies to me, all defensive and condescending, "Well, I didn't want to mess with them," pointing to the guys by the Smith Machine, like 15 feet away. What a lame-a$$ excuse. I cocked my head and said, "Oh, so now you're gonna mess with me." I just turned around and grabbed my weights and plopped down on my bench and started pressing.
The exchange didn't quite end there, but after a few more choice words, meathead moved over and shut up. The other dudes in the vicinity showed a little respect toward me after that, which was nice, because while I may be the only woman hittin' the free weights, it doesn't mean free weights are "man's land", and it doesn't mean meatheads like that guy can jerk women around. It's intimidating enough in free weights for women without dorks like that guy making it even worse. No wonder more women don't work out in the free weights. I mean, how hard would it have been for meathead to simply realize he'd set up his bench too close to mine and move it into the outrageously large free area to his right? He only needed an area that was 24 inches wide, at most! He still would have had several feet of empty space on either side of him if he'd just moved over.
I know that if I'd been a male, he wouldn't have treated me like that. Which is sad. I suppose I could have asked him to move his bench, but the dude walked away and I seriously doubt asking him to move would have rendered a much more desirable outcome. There was just something too torqued up about him. Roids, maybe??? Not sure.
Afterward, I questioned my reaction and why I snapped back the way I did, and I concluded that it was the way he tried to stare me down, as if he thought that he could intimidate me and make me cower under his glare. As if he was "better" than I am and had more of a right to be using free weights than I did. Well, obviously he picked the wrong "little girl" to try to intimidate, because I don't play that. I've been through a lot worse than meathead can dish, so my backbone has gotten pretty strong through the years.
It was only the third time I can remember where I snapped like that over something, though...and the other two times didn't have anything to do with working out and happened about fifteen years ago. I joked with my hubby afterward that it must have been the shirt I was wearing. I had on a black tank top with a black widow spider on the front. First time I've ever worn it to the gym. Maybe the black widow altered my personality or something. :7
