For the one hour of her class, Lil' B goes to the nursery, Mr. Rose heads for the treadmill, and I take my post outside of gymnastics to watch Miss H. It is so nice to be able to sit by myself and read or write while I marvel at the cuteness of my daughter on the balance beam.
The past two Saturdays have been different though. Last Saturday the YMCA was jam packed with people. It is basketball season now, so vying for a seat on one of the benches out side of gymnastics is becoming so difficult that it should be its own Olympic sport. On top of that, there was a Valentine's Day members appreciation party occuring right in this same area that happens to be about 20 feet wide by 30 feet long.
Have I ever mentioned that I hate large crowds in small spaces? No? Well...I do.
Lucky for me there is an upstairs observation area for gymnastics, although with considerably less seating, but I headed up there anyway. It was definitely quieter so I stood watching out the window as Miss H did her jumping jacks and stretches in relative peace.
Until...it started.
Two women next to me started talking. And talking. And TALKING. The one was relating a story to the other and it seemed like she was just telling it over and over again with increasing amounts of adjectives, hyperboles, and volume. From what I could tell it seemed that someone had wronged her in some way. I kept standing there trying to block it out, but all I could hear in my head was, "The more you stir it, the more it STINKS!" Before I could embarrass myself by butting into their conversation, I headed back downstairs.
By this time, things had quieted down a bit and I managed to find a spot on one of the downstairs benches. I settled in and pulled out my book. Just as I was starting to read, it started. Again.
Two different chatty-cathys had taken a spot on a bench right in front of me. Same situation as before, different topic. I wanted to scream, "For crying out loud would you please keep it to yourself! Some of us are TRYING to enjoy the 1 hour of solitude we will have this weekend!!" Again, I tried to block it out and failed.
This weekend when we headed out I planned on trying to write a few blog posts for the coming week. There was no member appreciation party this weekend, so the crowd was much reduced from last week. I quickly found a seat and whipped out my notebook and pen. No sooner had I written the first sentence than a woman in front of me turned around and tried to start a conversation with me. I answered her politely and after each response bent my head back down to my notebook.
She kept talking and talking, and finally I gave up. I put my notebook away and admitted defeat. Saturday mornings at the YMCA are not the place for Mommy quiet time. Maybe next week I should actually exercise.
7 comments:
I have to say, one of my pet peeves is when people talk to me when I'm trying to read or write. I just want to tell them, Thanks but no thanks!
Definitely not a quiet place- hopefully you can enjoy the time anyway!
The more you stir it the more it stinks! - lol That cracks me up.
Wanna know a little trick? Wear your ipod earbuds. Even if you dont have it on just having the ear buds in your ears will deter people from talking to you.
Three attempts and three failures? The first two I can understand happening, but the last lady should have seen you were busy! Geez!!!!
Try listening to headphones next time. Maybe people will leave you alone if they see you have those in your ears or it might block out the extra noise. Good luck!!
And, it's official, the blue zoo is a genius.
I run into this problem on planes. It's a plane, it's uncomfortable already, don't talk to me.
My husband travels all of the time, he goes everywhere with his fancy Bose headphones, you can't miss them and you also can't hear a damn thing around you ... invest in them for your blogging health ... of course, if you are interested in 'other health' then go run or something ... but personally I am not running unless someone is chasing me!
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