This afternoon I went to the gym over my lunch break for an easy ride on the recumbent bike. Today is supposed to be a Rest day but I am enjoying the book I am currently reading and wanted to sneak in a few pages over lunch. Hitting the gym and slowly peddling away on the recumbent bike is a nice way to accomplish this.
Anyway, as I jump one of the three recumbent bikes I notice the guy on one of the other bikes. To my amusement, he isn’t peddling, he doesn’t even have his feet on the peddles. He’s watching a soccer game on the TV and he’s just using the bike as a chair!
He looks like a guy who could use a few sessions with an exercise machine and my initial thought is, “Come on, dude. You’re here watching the game, why not put your feet in the peddles and burn a few calories while you’re at it! You are in a gym – MOVE! Do something for goodness sake!”
Is this not the epitome of laziness? Did I not just witness the real life version of that picture of the guy sitting in the Lazy Boy walking his dog on a treadmill? What is wrong with people?
The whole time I’m whirling away on the bike, multi-tasking right next time him, he’s just sitting there. At one point, he fiddled with the seat adjuster and I thought maybe he was going to actually start using the bike as it was intended instead of as a seat. I was ready to change my opinion of this man. I was ready to swell with pride at him taking steps toward better health. However, disappointment set back in when he just moved the seat further back to get more comfortable.
Then I had another thought; I felt guilty. I don’t know this guy. He could have been up at 5 this morning, earlier than me out running or walking or hitting the gym. Maybe this guy races all the time in the area and is constantly coming in ahead of me. What if this is one of the guys who speeds past me on the trail, zooming past on his bike as he commutes to work under his power?
I don’t know this guy or his life. I’ve already judged him and I feel guilty. Anyway, he leaves before I finish my time on the bike and I’m left wondering; is he the lazy schlub I cast him as or am I guilty of misjudging him?
It has led me to wonder what people will think about me when I go out to happy hour tonight and stuff my face with burgers while drinking a beer. I’ll see people out for their after-work run and wonder if they run past shaking their head at all these lazy people eating and drinking in bars, leading unhealthy lifestyles. Are they feeling as self-righteous as I did next to the guy in the gym? How awful!
Judge not, lest ye be judged….Indeed!
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