Seniors and The Gym

... coming to a TV screen near you. Not. Well maybe...

So I dropped off the second half of my crew at the airport this morning for their Vegas weekend. Real generous offer, considering I drove out to b.f.e. land -- Ontario -- at 5 am. No problem. I'm a morning person anyway. As long as the first thing I'm doing is writing or coming home. Let's not digress.

Anyway, being proactive and all, I put on my gym clothes and made a mental note to swing by the gym since it's on my way home from Ontario. No need for driving digression in the opposite direction back to the gym. Arrived at the gym at 6:30 am, brought my music and headphones, and planned on light weights and then running on treadmill. I did both, but along the way picked up a few observations of the senior citizens who tend to use the gym at the crack of dawn.

I used to only listen to my music while doing cardio. But... when you tend to wear Detroit Pistons, Michigan State, Sacramento Kings, Pro-Peace, Anti-Rape, Progressive Political t-shirts -- most of 'em I get free from relatives or from the university -- you tend to attract attention and conversation. Especially from those who think if you live in L.A., you oughta be a follower fan of every team L.A. Or those who think because we live in a somewhat safe and conservative suburban area, we should roll over and be pro-U.S./Rice/Bush everything. Whatever. So I learned to block out the crazies and neo-cons by wearing my headphones and staring straight ahead. Concentrating only on my workouts.

Well, today, just my luck. Batteries low. No music. Got lots of stares at my Michigan State shirt. Maybe because all the California teams (except for Pacific) made the next round of NCAA playoff. My assumption. Anyway, when your headphones are low, you can eavesdrop easily.

Seniors are just as dirty birdy as us 20/30-somethings. These men and women I overheard were talking about sex, flirting with each other, making overtures at each other on their respective machines, giving each other "the eye" that I thought only young folks did while clubbing... err, working out. Can't tell the difference sometimes. Hmmmm.... Never knew what I was missing lately. Not that the over 50 crowd is my target demographic. Not that I'm their target demographic either.

But my point... (finally, you say) is that we tend to lump older people into the chair rocking, soup making, 4am breakfast cooking, dollar giving, 8pm going to bed category. One of my writer friends always talks about how we tend to lump children into the same types of categories, not realizing that children are just little people with the same jealousies, rivalries, depressions, scheming minds, and lusty thoughts as adults. I guess the same holds for seniors.

Sounds like a launching point for a story. Lusty seniors who have lives. Seniors who have kept a life beyond their children. Seniors who want to keep themselves tight and active like they were in the 1970s and 1980s. I love it.

Who are the spirited seniors in your life? Give 'em a high five, sho' you right shout out today!
fs