Pounding the wall nonchalantly
Having recently discovered my local municipal gym, I try to make it down there three times a week. It's a pretty basic set-up in there, one treadmill, a couple of stationary bikes and about ten weight machines. There are no free weights, which is annoying, but for 100 Yen for one hour, I ain't complaining.
So there I was this morning, going from one machine to the next and building up a good sweat. About six other people were in there too, all quite old and probably retired. They looked pretty trim though, for their age. One dude sat down on a chair beside one of the windows. Tanned and well muscled, and an air of slight menace that I'd felt when I first saw him. He was watching me do some lateral pull-downs, and I tried to ignore him. After my second set, I looked over at him and he was still looking at me. It wasn't a curious, open stare, but an intense, cold beam that made me uncomfortable. I quickly looked away and started on my third set.
When I finished, a rhythmic "thump, thump, thump" started from his direction, and I couldn't help but look over. There he was, cool as a cucumber, still watching me with a sneer and punching the wall next to him with his bare right hand. These weren't little patsy slaps, but big pounding sledgehammers, piling into that wall like a bulldozer. I gulped and moved onto the next machine.
The punching continued as I began my reps. I tried to concentrate, but the more I tried to ignore him the more I wanted to look over at him, which I did. He was still looking right at me, and I don't know for sure but I don't think I saw him blink once. His eyes were black, hard and tiny, and they seemed to glint with terror. I was getting a bit scared now. Maybe he didn't like foreigners? Or maybe he didn't like newbies to the gym?
With these thoughts racing through my head, I continued the workout. Then suddenly, the pounding stopped, and he quickly stood up. He marched over to the pec squeeze machine, sat down and began doing reps. Every time he completed one rep, he'd let out a bass tonal grunt. He didn't stop for the remaining fifteen minutes I was there, and I'll tell you in a couple of days if he's still there, the nonchalant wall punching man.
So there I was this morning, going from one machine to the next and building up a good sweat. About six other people were in there too, all quite old and probably retired. They looked pretty trim though, for their age. One dude sat down on a chair beside one of the windows. Tanned and well muscled, and an air of slight menace that I'd felt when I first saw him. He was watching me do some lateral pull-downs, and I tried to ignore him. After my second set, I looked over at him and he was still looking at me. It wasn't a curious, open stare, but an intense, cold beam that made me uncomfortable. I quickly looked away and started on my third set.
When I finished, a rhythmic "thump, thump, thump" started from his direction, and I couldn't help but look over. There he was, cool as a cucumber, still watching me with a sneer and punching the wall next to him with his bare right hand. These weren't little patsy slaps, but big pounding sledgehammers, piling into that wall like a bulldozer. I gulped and moved onto the next machine.
The punching continued as I began my reps. I tried to concentrate, but the more I tried to ignore him the more I wanted to look over at him, which I did. He was still looking right at me, and I don't know for sure but I don't think I saw him blink once. His eyes were black, hard and tiny, and they seemed to glint with terror. I was getting a bit scared now. Maybe he didn't like foreigners? Or maybe he didn't like newbies to the gym?
With these thoughts racing through my head, I continued the workout. Then suddenly, the pounding stopped, and he quickly stood up. He marched over to the pec squeeze machine, sat down and began doing reps. Every time he completed one rep, he'd let out a bass tonal grunt. He didn't stop for the remaining fifteen minutes I was there, and I'll tell you in a couple of days if he's still there, the nonchalant wall punching man.
posted by TOK at 3:51 pm
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