He started to say something. I genuinely thought he was going to be a gentleman and insist that I keep my music playing.
"Oh, it's okay," I assured him. "I just had it on to keep me entertained."
"That's nice," he said. "But I can't have this window open."
I looked over at the window. There was nothing but white snow on the other side of it and that snow had created the climate of a refrigerator inside the cycling studio. That climate is what was going to get me through the next hour and a half.
"Oh, oh yeah," I exclaimed. "You can shut it." Internally, I was grumbling to myself. What a jerk! He thinks he can just storm in here and change the entire atmosphere. No music, no cooling system. Who does he think he is?
He took a seat on the bike behind my right shoulder and I could hear him as he began panting through the workout. As the intensity of his ride grew more demanding, he began to sound like a heavily-sleeping dragon. The noise was a deep, guttural growl and I could not help but chuckle. I got off my bike and grabbed my headphones and some Gu Chomps.
"I hope I'm not scaring you off," he said. It sounded like he hoped he was so he could have the studio to himself.
"Nope," I smiled at him. "Just grabbing a couple of things."
Heart Shaped Box beat through my headphones as I tossed a chomp on the left side of my mouth. It was stale. I had gotten it back in September and had yet to use it. I could hear myself slurp up the juices every time I bit down into the ball of instant energy. I guess two can play the annoying noises game, I thought to myself.
An hour passed and I noticed the spin of feet on the bike behind me come to a stop. The gentleman took his time getting off the bike. Hooray! He's done! I'll bet you anything he doesn't reopen the window for me. I was bitter and internally, I was not being a very nice person.
"Do you want me to turn on the fans for you?" He asked, kindly. I was taken aback. This was something I had not expected. Suddenly, I felt guilty for being so rude to him, even if it was only in my head.
A little less than an hour later, I was in the pool, focusing on some new stroke improvements I picked up recently. As I approached the end of my lane, I noticed a woman staring at me. I paused and looked at her, expecting her to ask to split the lane. She did not say anything, just stood and smiled. Alright then, back to my workout. As I finished the lap, I noticed a body swim past me. So I guess she did decide to split my lane.
I stayed tight in my lane, hugging the lane line and staying out of her way. I was in the middle of a 1500 yard stretch when she bumped into me hard. Ready to stop mid-stroke and stand up to wag my fist at her, I held back and finished the distance. Internally, I was bitter. She kept swimming in the middle of the lane, forcing me into the lane line to avoid contact. I felt squished. I really hope she finishes her swim soon.
When I finished my swim and came to the shallow end to stretch, she walked over to me and I gave her a friendly smile and said hello.
"I'm sorry I bumped into you earlier," she apologized.
Shoot. I was wrong about this one, too. I exclaimed that it was okay, things happen. I even told her about how the last gym I worked at would have 2-4 people sharing a lane at all times, so this wasn't so bad. But I felt poorly for judging her and for being so upset with her for bumping into me.
Moral of the story: Never judge a person by their initial behavior. They may come back to redeem themselves.
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