Some notes on the gym

First, the conditioner in the locker room showers is amazing! It is not only thick and more effective than the cheap stuff I buy and use at home, it makes my hair look good.

Second, I was on a stationary bike this morning and looked over at one of the TVs and there was a filmed interview/discussion thing with David Frum on.

Get this:

Frum and the people he was talking to were all eating breakfast.

Okay, now I am not self-conscious about eating in front of people, generally speaking. But think about how you feel on,

oh, I don't know,

first dates??

Or when you're having lunch with someone in a semi-professional capacity?

Basically if I'm eating with someone other than friends or family, particularly when I have to multi-task and alternate chewing with polite covers of the mouth with a napkin while saying "Mm hmm" and such, I eat very slowly and don't particularly enjoy myself. Because it's inconvenient and awkward.

In my own opinion.

So I was watching this thing today thinking how awful that would be to have a camera pointed at you for all of this.

Coffee I could do. In fact coffee would put me at ease. And in further fact I'm pretty sure I've thought before that if I were on a talk show--only a little bit narcissistic is this line of thinking--where they give people coffee mugs but as I understand it they are often filled with water, I would want mine to actually be filled with java.

Not only do I enjoy coffee, but it is part of my routine that makes me feel happy and regulated*. So if I were to be in a nervous situation, say, with cameras nearby, coffee would calm me down.

But if I was told I was going to do an interview over the breakfast table, I'd maybe request a single piece of toast and take two bites during the entire show.

Perhaps they were aiming for a sense of intimacy, or realness, but I wasn't getting it.

Some people find early morning exercising to be unappealing. I, on the other side of the TV screen this morning, pedaling away, felt awkward for these people and realized I would much rather be manipulating my heart rate via exercise than by such a terrible social situation.**

Ugh. No thank you.

*Not to be confused with 'regular.' Hardy har.
**For the record, as a journalist, if offered an opportunity to be on television for anything that I didn't consider to be vile or evil, I would probably jump at the chance. However, if breakfast were involved, I'd probably stick to, like I said, toast. And prior to filming I'd probably make sure my mug were filled with coffee, not water.