The Gym

Once upon a time, I used to love to exercise. That was during high school and college, though, when I had hours of free time to pick and choose when to work out. Now that I am in the real world my time has been severely constrained and working out in an empty gym is not an option anymore. And while public gyms do have their benefits (nice equipment, lots of eye candy), they harbor several of my exercise pet peeves.

Cell phones: If you can't put down your cell phone for an hour or so, you don't need to be at the gym. Go home and quite hogging the equipment I have been waiting 20 minutes to use.

Huge bottles of water: Unless you're running a marathon, you don't need to drink a gallon of water in less than an hour. There are water fountains everywhere, so you won't die of dehydration.

Beach muscles: If your arms are bigger than your thighs, you're not well-muscled; you're a douche. There are these things called squats. You might try them sometime.

Groups: I understand that most people like to exercise with a partner (I don't). But this is a gym, not a social club. It doesn't take 15 minutes to do two sets of curls, so shut up and actually work out.

Maybe one of these days I will have the space available for a home gym. Until then, I will just have to deal with the idiots at the gym who claim to work out.

Manny Being Retarded

First off, as an avid Yankees fan, I have a distinct dislike for the Red Sox. Babe Ruth and 26 World Series titles aside, my dislike has turned to outright hatred that last few seasons thanks to Manny Ramirez. Not because he is one of the best hitters in the game. Not because he kills the Yanks. And not because (seemingly) everyone in "Red Sox Nation" adores him. It's because he is a complete idiot with no accountability which has been dubbed "Manny being Manny". Sure, it's not uncommon for players to ask for trades, have a melancholy outlook of the team's performance, or getting into fights with teammates. But shoving a Red Sox employee to the ground (and a 60 year-old man at that) for not being able to score free tickets? Just saying "my bad" is good enough for the Boston brass; I'll bet Shawn Chacon would love to have had that kind of leeway. If I shoved one of my co-workers to the ground and said "just do your job", would I be able to makes things right with just an apology? No; I would be occupying a spot in the unemployment line. But so long as the Sox are winning and Manny can still hit a baseball (since he fields like a blind midget 90% of the time), his antics will continue to be tolerated. Mark my words, though: one of these days, he will cost Boston in the playoffs, and will more than likely be indifferent about it. Maybe, just maybe we will be lucky enough that he will have a Bill Buckner-esque moment, and Boston will see him for just what he is: a spoiled brat not worth the trouble.