So, I just felt like I had to share this with the world... I am in the process of trying to lose some weight, in time for my sister's wedding in just over a month, so I have been going to the gym early in the morning (I can't sleep anyway, so might as well get up and make good use of the time). So I went to the gym this morning and got on the treadmill, put my mp3 player on and the fan on myself. I had just started getting into my stride when the only other lone occupant of the gym, came over and got on the other treadmill right next to me and moved the fan so that he could get some of the breeze. He then turns and asks me, "Do you still feel it?" The breeze from the fan i.e. And of course I said yeah, however minute the amount of air was, I just didn't feel the need to bitch about the fact that he hadn't asked prior to moving the fan in the first place.



For privacy sake we will just call him D, D then uses this opportunity to start a conversation with me, and then asks me how I was doing. I answered him quickly and tried to get back to my workout, cause usually I prefer to work out in solitude and my music. He then says to me, "Yeah I noticed how flexible you are..." Flexible??? HMMMM? I wasn't quite sure how to take this comment, but I went ahead and figured that he was giving me some type of workout/sports junkie compliment and not meaning it in a derogatory manner. I said to him, "Oh yeah, really? Well I guess, if you say so..." and then he says, "Yeah really, you know I saw you the other day and you looked real flexible, I thought you might have done gymnastics." Gymnastics??? Have you seen my very overweight behind lately? That would be the day. Well I responded by saying, "Yes I used to be very flexible, I ran track all through high school and I did the long jump and the high jump and javelin." (Yes, my lazy butt used to do all that stuff, Oh what a shame!) "I am trying to get back in shape and that's why I am here." Well we had small talk for another five minutes and then proceeded with our respective workouts.





Now I have been going to this gym for a while and have seen this guy, D, over the years and he never really spoke before, so I was more than a little surprised when he spoke this morning. And it got me to wondering where did he get the notion from that I was very flexible... most recently when I have seen him at the gym I have not been doing any stretches etc. that would show my flexibility in the first place, so I was racking my brain trying to figure what prompted his comment. Could it be that I was being observed all along and was just now being approached.... hmmmm? It figures, instead of the show, "Kids Say the Darnedest Things", they should have had a show called, "Men Say & Do the Darnedest Things"... I took the encouraging words he had to share and went about my day and tried to see how flexible I really was when I started doing my stretches. Believe you me, I was nowhere able to do all the things that I used to do in my old workouts, but I could see how he would/could say that about me.





This incident however, reminded me of another situation where a guy I once knew waited many years before he made a move/made a comment to me about his true feelings. I was in high school and I had a friend who had a friend who used to be very nice to me. He was significantly older and was always looking out for Soapy. In the very small island that I grew up on, you were cool if you had a friend with a car, especially one who was older and male. He would pick me up from school to go get lunch, if he saw myself and my friends on the road walking he would always pick us up and drop us off wherever we needed to go. Now this behavior continued for years, he even helped me when I pulled off the surprise of the century and hosted my adoptive parents' 30th wedding anniversary party. It took him the rest of that year before he called me drunk on Christmas night to tell me that he was in love with me and he was sorry to see me move away and that he had been in love with me the whole time we had known each other. This was right around the time that I had decided to make the move to da D for school and spread my wings. Needless to say, our relationship was never the same after that and I have not spoken to him in about a dozen summers. I know however that if ever the need arose he would be right there looking out for me.



But back to the topic at hand... Do you ever wonder sometimes why people say the things they say. and do the things they do? This has always baffled, sometimes it can be very inappropriate, other times it can be very insightful, and other times you can have a WTF!! moment. Which brings me to something else that has been weighing on my mind and should have its own entire blog of its own, in fact I will save it for later, but why do men say things when they know they don't mean it... or just open their mouths and put their size 13 feet into it all the way back to the oesophagus. It is amazing to me, it makes me wonder whether or not they actually think about what it is they are going to say before they actually say it. Nope. I don't think they actually do, but I'll let you help me figure it out... stay tuned for the next title from Soapy's "soapbox", hehe lol, "soapbox" you get it... yes I know I make corny jokes... and today as always take care of you...