An Open Letter To The Mean Lady At The Gym Spa

Hey! Remember me? Oh, that's rhetorical. I know you do, because when we ran into you a second time, I didn't recognize you -- I was trying to be polite because I thought you were just any other person in the gym. You obviously recognized me because you were rude upon the realization that we were heading the same place. 

Here's the thing. Our first encounter should have gone completely differently. There was no need for the tone you immediately started with, nor was that lecture necessary. You see, being a loud person, I notice when people are making passive aggressive motions about my volume. I try to let everyone around me know when I notice them. So the first time you over exaggerated your sigh, I knew exactly what you meant. I even stopped talking because I saw it. 

What really steamed me (heh heh heh a little sauna humor, if you will. gosh I'm clever.) was what you did next. A simple "could you please take the volume down a little bit" or even a "could you please be quiet?" would have sufficed. You choose a different road. You slammed your book down and started in about how we must not know that place is for relaxation. Then proceeded to lecture us like we were kindergartners who dumped all of the finger paints out. 

That lecture on "relaxation" is really what has me irritated, now over two weeks later. Here's the thing. We had gone to barre class and wanted to unwind and detox a little bit before heading back into the hustle and bustle of real life. Personally, I can't sit in a completely quiet environment with just my thoughts because my brain works so fast that one second I'm taking a quick break, the next I'm replaying every stupid decision I've made that week. Completely undoing what release I got from my workout. 

You see, ma'am, that's the thing about relaxation. It's not a black and white, one size fits all thing. For you, it appears to be lounging around and reading romance novels, for that handsome guy who was in there before you, it's reading the finance section with his headphones in (hey! handy tip there! you know how you can decide when to hear other people existing? bring headphones!) For us it's chatting about the ridiculous things that happened that day. You see, that's why we go to the gym, because that way we get a chance to catch up. 

Now, here we are again two weeks later. You're huffing and being passive aggressive, even though we're texting each other instead of speaking out loud, so that you don't yell at us again. Congratulations, because just being in the spa with you makes us so uncomfortable we can't even enjoy the down time after our workout. Just to think, all of this could have been avoided if you had just considered how you would want to be spoken to, had the roles been reversed.

Thanks! Enjoy your romance novel.

What do you do about rude people at the gym? I mean, honestly sometimes I'm that person that people complain about "ugh, she's not even using the weights, just waiting for her friend to finish" I'm sure people complain about me too...