gym tales

I've been going to our condominium gym for the past 4 months. Not that it has made significant impact on my form, but it made me feel less guilty during dinner parties and other binge sessions.

Aside from that, going to the gym has made me less of a snob in our condominium complex as there were opportunities to interact with co-residents who were also using the gym (passing of the keys, teaching how to use the treadmill, etc) and the security personnel since we had to get the gym keys from them.

I've even made "friends" with some residents (hi's and hello's) and the guards are now familiar with me. One of the past Indian guards even started calling me by my surname (instead of the usual "Ma'am"), and got scolded by his superior by being so casual with me.

A lot of us gym-users have been suffering over the past month since the air-conditioning units have been out of order. If I managed to stay in the gym previously for 40 minutes, for the past month I was only able to stand staying for 30 minutes, or as short as 20 minutes if I really wasn't into it. Last week one of the friendlier guards told me we would have to wait till January for the a/c units to be fixed.

Yesterday, after work, I walked towards the guard house. Outside was one of the newer Indian guards. I gave him my resident's card then signed in. Then the two more superior guards -- one Chinese guard and one Indian guard, both in their 50's, poked their heads out, one by the window, and one by the door.

"Do you want to use the air-con, ma'am?" the Chinese guard asked.

It took me a second for his words to sink in.

"Of course!" I muttered.

Then he passed me this gadget. "We have brand new air-con units, ma'am!" He said proudly, handing me a new a/c remote control.

I played along. "Wow! Am I the first to use it?" Since I was in the day before and the broken a/c units were still there.

The older Indian guard answered, "You're the third! You win silver prize! Not bad huh?"

I was laughing as I walked away from the guard house and walked towards the gym with newly-installed a/c units.

There are these moments in life that could just brighten up your day.