The Gym

[Mike]

So I think this deserves a thread of its own. Maybe not. I s'pose I'll find out pretty quickly.

There's some weird people at my gym. Maybe it's because I go at midnight. But it's actually been the case in all the gyms I've been to over the years. Anyway, I find myself inventing names for all of them according to their appearance and mannerisms, just to amuse myself.

This one guy, for example: a smallish man, in poor shape, quite pudgy, wears a skin tight Christiano Ronaldo jersey every time he's in there. Why the xtra small jersey, I often wonder. A poor choice. Anyway, he's awkward, wears specs and is a bit nerdy. I call him Rick Moranis, cuz of the resemblance to the actor. So I was watching Moranis last night, because he was right in front of me, and he didn't do a single exercise for about 30 mins. Just fiddled with his phone the whole time, pacing back n forth. So what was he doing in that gym at midnight, pacing back n forth with his phone, wearing that skin tight Ronaldo jersey..stubbornly avoiding any kind of exercise? I don't know, but I found it to be oddly distracting. And as the clock ticked away, very annoying. It was all I could do to not approach him and shout, Are you gonna do something or what?!!? As I was leaving the gym I looked over my shoulder and saw him..still doing nothing. Weird.

This other dude I often see in there I call Jason Vorhees, after the axe wielding freak in the horror movies. I call him that because he's quite tall, large, and is covered head to toe in gear: hat, creepy face covering, dingy long sleeve shirt and pants, and weathered old boots. Ive never seen his face. He walks around very slowly, but just when you've underestimated him, boom!, he's right behind you..just like the Voorhees of the movies.

Another character i see in there is a guy I call Willie Randolph due to his resemblance to the baseball great, but also because he spends his entire time in the gym pretending to be involved in an imaginary baseball game. He fields ground balls, makes throws to first base, and even holds up his fingers to indicate how many outs there are in this illusory game. It's all remarkably detailed. He never actually works out. It is astounding. I thought maybe he was mental in some way, but when I heard him talking to the front desk guy he sounded totally sane. Bizarre.

Another notable is Marilyn Manson. I call him that because he looks like Manson, only bulkier. His thing is this: he will find a machine that is used for, say, biceps, and somehow turn it into leg workout. And then he will stand up and scan the gym in the hopes that the rest of us are all looking on in admiration at his inventiveness. Or at least that's what i imagine he's doing. Last night I saw him doing squats from his back. It was the most ridiculous thing I've ever seen.

There are numerous characters like these that I've given names too. Too many to count. Finally I grew a bit sick of them all and upgraded my membership so I could go to the other planet fitness in the next town over. I needed a fresh start, and a space free of all the stale faces I normally see on a nighty basis. So tonight I walk into this other planet fitness, invigorated and ready to go. I approach the dumbell area and who do I see? It's f#cking Rick Moranis, pacing back and forth with his head buried in his stupid phone, wearing that same ridiculous Ronaldo jersey. It felt like a cruel joke of some sort. I walked out of the gym immediately without even looking up, cuz I was afraid i might see Manson doing bicep curls on a hamstring machine or Vorhees scowling behind his creepy face covering.

So long story short I went to my usual gym, and it was just me and Willie Randolph in there tonight. I did my chest workout while he fielded imaginary ground balls, and I was strangely ok with it all. Just mildly annoyed. I'm thinking of changing gyms but i only pay 10 bucks a month at mine. Hard to beat.

You guys have any weirdos in your gyms?

[Trisher]

Hilarious Mike. At the pool and Spa I go to there are people in the Steam room with their phones. They keep wiping the fogged up screen. There are folks walking around the pool close to the edge looking at their phones, miraculously never falling in. Some leave their phones by the pools edge and look at it every two or three lengths. There are folks in the pool who never swim, just stand in the water at the side talking either to themselves or to another. I watch as people enter the steam room which states clearly "Push button to turn on" and they go inside and sit for 10/15 mins waiting for it to turn on automatically. Eventually coming out and realising they have to press the button.

I wonder who watches me and wonders why I do what I do.
:o

[Gracy]

Kind of the same here Mike, the noticing people thing, except at the local piano lounge and I don't have nick names for them.

There's the old man who likes to make love to his tonic and gin. Always an old song he can't ever quite put his finger on it, but knows that it was sad, sweet, and he knew it complete, when he wore a younger man's clothes.

Then there's John at the bar, he gets me my drinks for free. He's quick with a joke or to light up your smoke, but there's someplace that he'd rather be. You see he'll tell you how this job is killing him, as a smile runs away from his face, cos he's sure that he could be a movie star if he could just get out of that place.

Can't forget about ole Paul who pops is regularly. He likes talking to Davey, who's still in the navy, and probably will be for life.

Yeah, you'll see it all here. Waitresses practicing politics, as businessmen slowly get stoned, I reckon they're all sharing a drink they call loneliness, but it's better than drinking alone. :cocktail:

[9ideon]

That Guy on the phone is probably observing you observing him and he pretends to be on his phone so he can secretly make pictures of you when you are observing someone else, in the meantime he is posting all these pictures on some social media site named "the Creepy Observer". LoL

[Trisher]

Kind of the same here Mike, the noticing people thing, except at the local piano lounge and I don't have nick names for them.

There's the old man who likes to make love to his tonic and gin. Always an old song he can't ever quite put his finger on it, but knows that it was sad, sweet, and he knew it complete, when he wore a younger man's clothes.

Then there's John at the bar, he gets me my drinks for free. He's quick with a joke or to light up your smoke, but there's someplace that he'd rather be. You see he'll tell you how this job is killing him, as a smile runs away from his face, cos he's sure that he could be a movie star if he could just get out of that place.

Can't forget about ole Paul who pops is regularly. He likes talking to Davey, who's still in the navy, and probably will be for life.

Yeah, you'll see it all here. Waitresses practicing politics, as businessmen slowly get stoned, I reckon they're all sharing a drink they call loneliness, but it's better than drinking alone. :cocktail:
:clapping:

gxEPV4kolz0

[Mashika]

Meanwhile on some other forum:

"There's this guy at the gym that always watches me while i pace around using my phone, i bet he even has a nick name for me.. anyways i switched to another gym location and on my first day there you wont believe who showed up..."
- Rick

I used to see some guy doing lots of noices at the fym, like when doing squats he would make noises as if he was lifting half a ton of weights, it was truly annoying, one day another guy got fed up and basically yelled "can you shut up already?" from the other side of the gym, it was hilarious, guy never made any more noises after that

[Karen (Geophyz)]

You guys have any weirdos in your gyms?

I used to go to the gym after work with a male friend from my office. We noticed that a fellow named Joe always signed up for equipment we were on....and he put a heart for the "o" in his name. My friend said...I think he his flirting with you. One day he walked up to my friend and asked him if he wanted to go for coffee.......safe to say he was NOT flirting with ME!

We found another gym.

[Mark (Star Mariner)]

Always thought the gym was the hangout of questionable types, beyond the genuine fitness fanatics of course. But to go there at midnight... Jeez. To be honest, for whatever reason, at midnight I would expect to see the same sort of crowd in there that frequent the local bus station at that hour. As in, your various Marilyn Mansons and Jason Vorhees types.

You've got some serious cojones to not do an immediate 180, Mike. If it was me, i'd be like:

https://thumbs.gfycat.com/ArcticMildBedlingtonterrier.webp

[Mark]

I live in a college town and the gym we go to has a bunch of babies in it. By babies, I mean college students. The ones who stand out to me are "the beautiful ones", the boys and girls who wear all of the latest gear and spend so much time looking at themselves in the mirror that you're not sure if they're there to work out or to just use wall size mirrors to admire their perfect faces and bodies.

I was an athlete as a young man and into my 30s but that was all before social media and phones and the current phase of folks just being uber-narcissistic. We looked in the mirror while working out and I still do, but this is on another level. And it is ok, socially acceptable, to just be outright all about working that perfection, taking selfies and modeling athletic wear. I'm a big fan of the young being youthful and oblivious in their beauty, I guess it's just a new way of being to see what the rituals of body modification look like in today's society among the babies.

xSJAeWPEWTw

[Mike]

Hilarious Mike. At the pool and Spa I go to there are people in the Steam room with their phones. They keep wiping the fogged up screen. There are folks walking around the pool close to the edge looking at their phones, miraculously never falling in. Some leave their phones by the pools edge and look at it every two or three lengths. There are folks in the pool who never swim, just stand in the water at the side talking either to themselves or to another. I watch as people enter the steam room which states clearly "Push button to turn on" and they go inside and sit for 10/15 mins waiting for it to turn on automatically. Eventually coming out and realising they have to press the button.

I wonder who watches me and wonders why I do what I do.
:o


That's too funny:)

There's no pool or steam room at my gym, but people sure are preoccupied with their phones. I recall being there on a Sat afternoon once, and when i looked up from what i was doing i just saw a crowd of people staring blankly into their phones, looking almost hypnotized. It was like a Twilight Zone episode or something, where everyone is suddenly frozen in place.

My friend Marcus is 50 years old, and is the only person i know who still doesn't have a phone. He calls them "chimp transponders", and I think it's a pretty good name for them!

¤=[Post Update]=¤


Kind of the same here Mike, the noticing people thing, except at the local piano lounge and I don't have nick names for them.

There's the old man who likes to make love to his tonic and gin. Always an old song he can't ever quite put his finger on it, but knows that it was sad, sweet, and he knew it complete, when he wore a younger man's clothes.

Then there's John at the bar, he gets me my drinks for free. He's quick with a joke or to light up your smoke, but there's someplace that he'd rather be. You see he'll tell you how this job is killing him, as a smile runs away from his face, cos he's sure that he could be a movie star if he could just get out of that place.

Can't forget about ole Paul who pops is regularly. He likes talking to Davey, who's still in the navy, and probably will be for life.

Yeah, you'll see it all here. Waitresses practicing politics, as businessmen slowly get stoned, I reckon they're all sharing a drink they call loneliness, but it's better than drinking alone. :cocktail:


Were you forced to google the lyrics or did you know them by heart? That's what I wanna know:)

[Mike]

Meanwhile on some other forum:

"There's this guy at the gym that always watches me while i pace around using my phone, i bet he even has a nick name for me.. anyways i switched to another gym location and on my first day there you wont believe who showed up..."
- Rick

I used to see some guy doing lots of noices at the fym, like when doing squats he would make noises as if he was lifting half a ton of weights, it was truly annoying, one day another guy got fed up and basically yelled "can you shut up already?" from the other side of the gym, it was hilarious, guy never made any more noises after that

:bigsmile:

Yeah it wasn't lost on me that perhaps in his universe i was the ever present weirdo. Maybe he's thinking, can't a guy fiddle with his phone at midnight in a gym without seeing the same annoying faces judging him all the time? And he'd be perfectly justified in that thought. But it won't stop me from judging him. Or the others. Because I'm a cranky dick and that's my job. And despite the fact that I'm in a gym at midnight, wearing a sweatshirt in 90 degree weather, my ego is still great at convincing me I'm not the weird one..it's those people out there that are weird:) Gotta love the ego. But perhaps I'll pay for it all by appearing on "the creepy observer" site mad scientist guessed at. Somehow it wouldn't surprise me

[Mike]

Hey Mark, before i signed up at planet fitness i was at 24 hr fitness. Much more expensive there and all the people looked fit in ways that suggested marathons...but still impressively muscular. They looked like european footballers. And they were all bouncy and enthusiastic and dressed in all the latest fancy sporting gear and so forth. And here i am, dressed like Rocky Balboa in Rocky 1, sweating awkwardly thru my grey sweatshirt, panting away ..trying to keep up in some embarrassing way. I felt silly in there and lasted about a week lol.

Maybe I'm right where i belong at planet fitness! Lol

[Mike]

You guys have any weirdos in your gyms?

I used to go to the gym after work with a male friend from my office. We noticed that a fellow named Joe always signed up for equipment we were on....and he put a heart for the "o" in his name. My friend said...I think he his flirting with you. One day he walked up to my friend and asked him if he wanted to go for coffee.......safe to say he was NOT flirting with ME!

We found another gym.


Funny you should say that...

I was totally oblivious to it for a while, but midnight and after at my gym consists of mostly gay men, with a few exceptions. No one has asked me to go for coffee yet tho:)

I prefer the gay men to the straight men in there, because they wipe down all the machines they use, don't hog the equipment, and aren't nearly as obnoxious.

star mariner, i get it, midnight seems like a strange time to go, and perhaps it is! I only do it because there are far less people in there then and i can get away with going maskless.

[onawah]

Well, one less weirdo at my local gym, since I stopped going when it became mandatory to wear a face mask. :facemask:
(One of the main points for working out being to get as much oxygen into your body as possible. :facepalm: )

I love Mad Scientist's idea about the "Creepy Observer", and I hope you will take him up on it, Mike.
It's not a totally original idea, of course, since people have been taking photos and videos of weirdos at WalMart for some time now, but the gym locale would make for a welcome variation on the general theme.

Of course, it could be tricky to get the creepy ones' photos without being observed yourself, but you could probably figure out a good way to disguise what you are actually doing.:spy:
(Maybe a variation on the "flasher" although then you might have to wear something over your sweatshirt.
Perhaps it could be rigged so the camera would take a photo every time you opened the raincoat.
If nothing else, it would certainly add to your own cranky dick weirdo repertoire!
Just kidding. :jester:)
https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/71p-nFKZKVL._AC_UX679_.jpg

But then it might not really matter to those whose images are being preserved for posterity.
They might actually like being your subjects, and step up their game a bit, particularly the narcissistic types.
Imagine what even weirder things to do they might come up with!

(I started working out when I was in my 30s, and I used to watch myself in the mirror, but not so much because I was one of the "beautiful ones".
It was really because I needed to convince myself that I was actually there, doing that, inasmuch as I had formerly been pretty much of an inveterate coach potato. :behindsofa:
BTW, I also don't own a cell phone.
Say hi to Marcus for me. )





You guys have any weirdos in your gyms?

[RunningDeer]

I had a membership at Planet Fitness. Before I signed up, I scouted out the parking lot and learned that early afternoons weren’t busy. The first day, I picked the end treadmill closest to the windows. It was a strategic way to create personal space and drowned out the visual and auditory overload of CNN news and other shows.

There were two lines of treadmills about fifteen-twenty per row. I hadn’t been on long enough to break a sweat when a guy came over and step up camp on the one right next to me. None of the other treadmills were in use.

The strange thing was I saw him over at one of the stations, I smelled him. It makes no sense to say that out loud, but I’ve had similar experiences when I look at photographs. I had no physical proof. I’ve since learned that there’s a couple of “clairs” that are not as well know as: clairaudience (hear), claircognizance (know), clairsentience (feel), clairvoyance (see). They’re clairgustance (smell) and clairalience (taste).

He didn’t physically smell from a work out but I was repulsed by his auric field that now also invaded my space. I had two choices, stay and claim my space or move. I grabbed up my stuff and moved to the opposite end. Shortly after, the guy went back to the station he was on earlier.

The same thing happened the next day. I gathered up my things and inquired at the desk about the protocol. I explained this was my second day and it’s happened twice with the same guy. Did I have the right to request that he shift down one or two? They said everyone is free to choose which machines they want to work on.

I never went back.

[Mike]

I had a membership at Planet Fitness. Before I signed up, I scouted out the parking lot and learned that early afternoons weren’t busy. The first day, I picked the end treadmill closest to the windows. It was a strategic way to create personal space and drowned out the visual and auditory overload of CNN news and other shows.

There were two lines treadmills of about fifteen-twenty per row. I hadn’t even been on long enough to break a sweat when a guy came over and step up camp on the one right next to me. None of the other treadmills were in use.

The strange thing was I saw him over at one of the stations, I smelled him. It makes no sense to say that out loud, but I’ve had similar experiences when I look at photographs. I had no physical proof. I’ve since learned that there’s a couple of “clairs” that are not as well know as: clairaudience (hear), claircognizance (know), clairsentience (feel), clairvoyance (see). They’re clairgustance (smell) and clairalience (taste).

He didn’t physically smell from a work out but I was repulsed by his auric field that now also invaded my space. I had two choices, stay and claim my space or move. I grabbed up my stuff and moved to the opposite end. Shortly after, the guy went back to the station he was on earlier.

The same thing happened the next day. I gathered up my things and inquired at the desk about the protocol. I explained this was my second day and it’s happened twice with the same guy. Did I have the right to request that he shift down one or two? They said everyone is free to choose which machines they want to work on.

I never went back.


That is a very strange phenomenon. I've experienced it many times myself, particularly at places like Barnes n Nobles. I'll select a corner table in a mostly empty cafe, looking for solitude, and almost unfailingly some idiot will take a seat at the table immediately next to mine. It's just amazing. And it doesn't stop there. Sometimes I would grab one of those foot stools and post up in the most obscure section of the store i could find, like "crocheting" or something, and sure enough just minutes later my peace would be spoiled by a family of 6 looking for a gift for grandma.

There is something going on there, perhaps unconscious, where people who are seeking out solitude attract people who aren't. Studies need to be done.

Nat, try Planet Fitness if youre still interested in the gym. It's super cheap, and members are not required to wear masks while working out..only while you're walking around. During the late hours it's not enforced at all, at least not at my location.

I think Mad Scientist was actually suggesting that i am the creepy observer lol. And maybe he's right!

No phone? I have to say i do admire that. Well done there. I think the trick with smart phones is to never get one one in the first place. Once you're spoiled by the technology it just ruins you. At least it has me.

[Mark]

Hey Mark, before i signed up at planet fitness i was at 24 hr fitness. Much more expensive there and all the people looked fit in ways that suggested marathons...but still impressively muscular. They looked like european footballers. And they were all bouncy and enthusiastic and dressed in all the latest fancy sporting gear and so forth. And here i am, dressed like Rocky Balboa in Rocky 1, sweating awkwardly thru my grey sweatshirt, panting away ..trying to keep up in some embarrassing way. I felt silly in there and lasted about a week lol.

Maybe I'm right where i belong at planet fitness! Lol

Yeh, I totally get that, I'm a pretty big dude, 6'4 and 280 pounds, so I look imposing, especially with the middle-age gut. I'm really strong, but it's old man strength with no endurance to go with it, especially with my current long-covid breathlessness still going on.

Being around the babies and the fitness junkies is a bit uncomfortable when I allow myself to even care, which is rarely. No holding in of the gut, no trying to look cute. Appealing in any way to the Gen Z kiddos is creepy at my age and I try not to even interact with them directly. I'm starting to appreciate the old codger modality, I look forward to expressing it even more directly as I age.

[Mike]

Hey Mark, before i signed up at planet fitness i was at 24 hr fitness. Much more expensive there and all the people looked fit in ways that suggested marathons...but still impressively muscular. They looked like european footballers. And they were all bouncy and enthusiastic and dressed in all the latest fancy sporting gear and so forth. And here i am, dressed like Rocky Balboa in Rocky 1, sweating awkwardly thru my grey sweatshirt, panting away ..trying to keep up in some embarrassing way. I felt silly in there and lasted about a week lol.

Maybe I'm right where i belong at planet fitness! Lol

Yeh, I totally get that, I'm a pretty big dude, 6'4 and 280 pounds, so I look imposing, especially with the middle-age gut. I'm really strong, but it's old man strength with no endurance to go with it, especially with my current long-covid breathlessness still going on.

Being around the babies and the fitness junkies is a bit uncomfortable when I allow myself to even care, which is rarely. No holding in of the gut, no trying to look cute. Appealing in any way to the Gen Z kiddos is creepy at my age and I try not to even interact with them directly. I'm starting to appreciate the old codger modality, I look forward to expressing it even more directly as I age.


Old man strength with no endurance lol! Brilliant:) That's me to a "t" , tho I'm not nearly as big as you. If you need someone to help move a huge entertainment stand, or drag a bookshelf down a flight of stairs, I'm your guy. But if you need someone to do something repetitive, that requires perpetual motion, like shoveling a driveway for example, I'm done after about 5 mins

I'm still sucking in the belly a little, but i aspire to your attitude, which i find to be refreshingly honest.

[onawah]

I can't really take credit. I am way too sensitive to emfs to ever want to own one of those things.
Thanks for the suggestion but no Planet Fitness in my small town.
I think my gym days are over, in any case.
What I could go for these days is a big, non-toxic hot tub with jacuzzi that I could do calisthenics in. :bathbaby:



No phone? I have to say i do admire that. Well done there. I think the trick with smart phones is to never get one one in the first place. Once you're spoiled by the technology it just ruins you. At least it has me.

[onawah]

One good thing about being a "canary in the coal mine"--you learn quickly what things to avoid....:cell:



No phone? I have to say i do admire that. Well done there. I think the trick with smart phones is to never get one one in the first place. Once you're spoiled by the technology it just ruins you. At least it has me.

[Karen (Geophyz)]

Hey Mark, before i signed up at planet fitness i was at 24 hr fitness. Much more expensive there and all the people looked fit in ways that suggested marathons...but still impressively muscular. They looked like european footballers. And they were all bouncy and enthusiastic and dressed in all the latest fancy sporting gear and so forth. And here i am, dressed like Rocky Balboa in Rocky 1, sweating awkwardly thru my grey sweatshirt, panting away ..trying to keep up in some embarrassing way. I felt silly in there and lasted about a week lol.

Maybe I'm right where i belong at planet fitness! Lol

Yeh, I totally get that, I'm a pretty big dude, 6'4 and 280 pounds, so I look imposing, especially with the middle-age gut. I'm really strong, but it's old man strength with no endurance to go with it, especially with my current long-covid breathlessness still going on.

Being around the babies and the fitness junkies is a bit uncomfortable when I allow myself to even care, which is rarely. No holding in of the gut, no trying to look cute. Appealing in any way to the Gen Z kiddos is creepy at my age and I try not to even interact with them directly. I'm starting to appreciate the old codger modality, I look forward to expressing it even more directly as I age.


Old man strength with no endurance lol! Brilliant:) That's me to a "t" , tho I'm not nearly as big as you. If you need someone to help move a huge entertainment stand, or drag a bookshelf down a flight of stairs, I'm your guy. But if you need someone to do something repetitive, that requires perpetual motion, like shoveling a driveway for example, I'm done after about 5 mins


I'm still sucking in the belly a little, but i aspire to your attitude, which i find to be refreshingly honest.



Thank you Mike, you reduced me to laughter on a day where I had very little to laugh about!

[Anka]

There were times in my youth when I went by train often and every time there were "characters" I saw, but I didn't know at that time that I could make analogies, maybe it was cooler that way:)
Cool thread Mike!

People were very talkative, so I didn't get rid of the question "Where are you going miss?" at least.
I've always had good manners, but I didn't like talking so much.
Sometimes their grimaces were so obvious that I had to look out the window, even though sometimes it was night. Later I chose to read a book, listen to music in headphones and have that face of mine, without expression at all. I was so unapproachable to questions that I was like you know? when you have the intuition that in a cartoon someone starts singing ... and you dislike that ... I think I was actually a stranger creature than them, because some of them felt hesitant to approach me and that it bothered me even more ... then it was complex and I was too young :blushing:

Now, with the same expressionless face, but in the softest kind voice, I ask people about the weather or where they are going, and even if I talk to them, they don't seem to see me anymore, they are always distracted by their thoughts.

Sometimes I look at them the way they look out the train window, and those looks I can't forget, they're so deep, so all i can do is keep my mouth shut.
But looking at them, with all their particular characteristics, they are creatures that I now understand more, sometimes their sadness and joy reach me, but I can't tell them anything but to wish them a good day:)
But there will always be comic or weird characters as well that I see, and I'm convinced that I'm one of them for the others...

[onawah]

Mike has a wonderful gift for making us laugh :jester: just when things seem darkest.:nod:
He's pulled me out of the doldroms many a time, and I appreciate him so much for that. :flower: :heart:




Thank you Mike, you reduced me to laughter on a day where I had very little to laugh about!

[Mike]

Quick update on Jason Vorhees: at one point tonight he saddled up next me, on the adjacent bench press, and I got a close look at him. He even removed his hankerchief from his face for a moment. He had a pitted, grizzled face, which was what I would have expected but it also strangely wasn't. I think it's simply because he'd created so much mystery by wearing his face covering so diligently that there's no way his real face could have lived up to my expectations. Had he had decomposing flesh and maggots crawling out of empty eye sockets I might still have subconsciously wished there was an axe wound too. So there was no way he could win with me.

And then, while exercising, he made some noises that indicated effort. Grunting and so forth. The real Vorhees would have never done that. It would have been most uncool for a supernatural killer to sweat while lifting 185lbs.

So Vorhees lost a little of his mysterious aura with me tonight.

[Mike]

Tonight the character i referred to in my O.P. as "Marilyn Manson" was in rare form. He's the guy, as I explained earlier, who loves to use machines meant for one specific body part for some other body part altogether. For example, he'll use a bicep machine to work triceps, a quad machine for back, and so forth. It's absolutely absurd. Why he does it is anyone's guess but I think it's largely performative. I think he views himself as some kind of fitness visionary or something..and by contorting himself into awkward positions on machines meant for some other body part when he could comfortably perform the exercise on the appropriate machine, he seems to be trying to impress with some sort of misguided creativity. Whatever it is, I think it's obnoxious and annoying.

Tonight he was using my favorite machine when I arrrived, so I was annoyed instantly..even before I saw what stupid f#cked up exercise he was attempting. The machine he was using is called a "smith machine". A smith machine is normally used for bench pressing and squatting. It's a bar on a guided track basically.

Manson had a bench positioned under the bar, like you would if you were going to perform a bench press. Then he stood on the bench, placed his right foot under the bar, and lifted his knee as high as it would go, and then brought it back down...up and down, up and down. Then he did the same with his left leg...just lifting the bar - with no weight on it mind you - with his feet, up and down, up and down...

I didn't even pretend that I wasn't watching him. It was too fascinating to look away. And I'm not kidding even a little when i say i came within a hairsbreath of approaching him and saying: what in the ever-loving f#ck are you doing??? I just hit my breaking point with the guy. I stopped myself from saying anything tho. I've been in one fight in a gym, many many years ago, and I didn't want this to be fight #2. I'm just too old for that sort of thing.

Anyway, I think I made him at least uncomfortable enough to wrap up his weird exercise pretty quickly, and I got my workout in. All the other characters I used to see are no longer coming in, so this was the first bit of action in a while

[DSKlausler]

Jumping right in the middle here Mike... have you ever spoken to him (your "Marilyn Manson)?

Some really ignorant people out there... I see whacky things just running. I HAVE spoken to some; they believe their gurus - whomever is the latest - and regardless of bodily harm.

I actually gave up; logic, education, and experience are no match for "TV" and "social media".

[Mike]

Jumping right in the middle here Mike... have you ever spoken to him (your "Marilyn Manson)?

Some really ignorant people out there... I see whacky things just running. I HAVE spoken to some; they believe their gurus - whomever is the latest - and regardless of bodily harm.

I actually gave up; logic, education, and experience are no match for "TV" and "social media".


No, I've never spoken to him. I don't speak to anyone in there really. My fear is that they'll misinterpret my friendliness as an invitation to chat whenever they see me. I've had to deal with those sorts over the years. In response to that kind of thing I've developed a habit of wearing headphones nearly all the time when I'm in there - even when I'm not listening to music - so I can pretend to not hear people when they try to engage me. It's been a pretty effective strategy.

The thing about Manson is (well, there's lots of things, but this is one): that ridiculous exercise he was doing last night didn't even require him to stand on the bench. He could have just lowered the bar to ground level and done it that way. But instead he balanced himself on one foot while standing on a bench and lifting the bar with his opposite foot. Nothing about it made sense. And that's typical of nearly everything he does. It's hard to describe because it's like this multilayered pointlessness. Where does one even begin to explain?

It amuses me 95% of the time. But last night it mostly annoyed me because I was in a sour mood to begin with and he was using the machine I wanted to use.

[DSKlausler]

Jumping right in the middle here Mike... have you ever spoken to him (your "Marilyn Manson)?

Some really ignorant people out there... I see whacky things just running. I HAVE spoken to some; they believe their gurus - whomever is the latest - and regardless of bodily harm.

I actually gave up; logic, education, and experience are no match for "TV" and "social media".


No, I've never spoken to him. I don't speak to anyone in there really. My fear is that they'll misinterpret my friendliness as an invitation to chat whenever they see me. I've had to deal with those sorts over the years. In response to that kind of thing I've developed a habit of wearing headphones nearly all the time when I'm in there - even when I'm not listening to music - so I can pretend to not hear people when they try to engage me. It's been a pretty effective strategy.

The thing about Manson is (well, there's lots of things, but this is one): that ridiculous exercise he was doing last night didn't even require him to stand on the bench. He could have just lowered the bar to ground level and done it that way. But instead he balanced himself on one foot while standing on a bench and lifting the bar with his opposite foot. Nothing about it made sense. And that's typical of nearly everything he does. It's hard to describe because it's like this multilayered pointlessness. Where does one even begin to explain?

It amuses me 95% of the time. But last night it mostly annoyed me because I was in a sour mood to begin with and he was using the machine I wanted to use.

Is it possible that he's just doing these things in an attempt to receive commentary; an experiment in socialization/confrontation?

It seems that your reason for headphones is contradictory to staring the guy down.

I say fukkit, and see what's cookin. If it proves to be nutso; then give him an over-the-top nutso reaction. Doubtful that future contact will be initiated. Of course I'd be cautious with my body language.

[Mike]

Jumping right in the middle here Mike... have you ever spoken to him (your "Marilyn Manson)?

Some really ignorant people out there... I see whacky things just running. I HAVE spoken to some; they believe their gurus - whomever is the latest - and regardless of bodily harm.

I actually gave up; logic, education, and experience are no match for "TV" and "social media".


No, I've never spoken to him. I don't speak to anyone in there really. My fear is that they'll misinterpret my friendliness as an invitation to chat whenever they see me. I've had to deal with those sorts over the years. In response to that kind of thing I've developed a habit of wearing headphones nearly all the time when I'm in there - even when I'm not listening to music - so I can pretend to not hear people when they try to engage me. It's been a pretty effective strategy.

The thing about Manson is (well, there's lots of things, but this is one): that ridiculous exercise he was doing last night didn't even require him to stand on the bench. He could have just lowered the bar to ground level and done it that way. But instead he balanced himself on one foot while standing on a bench and lifting the bar with his opposite foot. Nothing about it made sense. And that's typical of nearly everything he does. It's hard to describe because it's like this multilayered pointlessness. Where does one even begin to explain?

It amuses me 95% of the time. But last night it mostly annoyed me because I was in a sour mood to begin with and he was using the machine I wanted to use.

Is it possible that he's just doing these things in an attempt to receive commentary; an experiment in socialization/confrontation?

It seems that your reason for headphones is contradictory to staring the guy down.

I say fukkit, and see what's cookin. If it proves to be nutso; then give him an over-the-top nutso reaction. Doubtful that future contact will be initiated. Of course I'd be cautious with my body language.


Well I wasn't really staring him down in any kind of tough guy way. It was more like a is-he-really-doing-this? type of staring. Normally I merely notice him doing silly things without stopping to stare. This time I couldn't help myself. It was a combination of impatience, frustration, and lousy mood that made me drop my manners and gawk at the guy. My attitude was more like, ok, you want some attention, do you? Well I'm going to stand here and watch you till it becomes uncomfortable for both of us. It was an act that was likely more unpleasant for me than him, but I thought it cunning:)

[Kryztian]

Mike, are you familiar with Dolores Cannon's theory of The Backdrop People? This is from her books, The Convoluted Universe I think Volume 3 and also in Volume 4. This is all from information given to her from "the beyond" through her patients while they were having hypnosis sessions with her.

The theory runs something like this: most of the people you meet in life and have meaningful relationships with are real people with real consciousness and eternal souls. However, when you pass through a busy airport or walk down a city crowded city street, many of the people there are not real. They are just bodies there to fill in the space, sort of like the extras in a movie set when they are filming a crowd scene.


unbeknownst to us, other energies were also sent to Earth to play bit parts in our scenarios we have created, to act in our illusion. These were called the Backdrop People, who come to live, breathe, work and die, but have no real purpose other than to be the extras in our play; the backdrop to act against. [...] They are just energy and are taken from one star system to another to play their parts. Rather like the extras in a film who spend their entire lives playing that insignificant part and never getting to play the leading role.

[...] They are there to provide the drama for our illusion. They said, “They are taken from one place to another to do whatever they need to do there because they are just energy.” I think the only way to look at this is with all emotions removed. [...] Now when I'm in a crowded airport, cruise ship or busy city and I see all the bustling people going about their business seemingly oblivious of each other, I think “backdrop people.” An interesting concept and one that probably has more significance than I realize.


I don't think Dolores ever hung out at a gym, but that sounds exactly where the many of these backdrops critters would hang out between gigs on their off hours. Of course they don't want to develop there physique too nicely because that would call attention to themselves when they are just trying to look ordinary, so that hang out there without really working out. If they are talking on the cell phone it's probably to find out when and where there next gig is: "Rush hour is coming, do you need me to fill out the subways?" "No, Southwest Airlines is having delays so we need more back drop people to fill this airports." It sounds like Marilyn Manson wants to be promoted to a foreground person and is working on that in his off hours at the gym. Someone better show him his place.

Granted, the Backdrop People thing is a pretty bizarre idea, but the people you are describing sound even more bizarre. It just doesn't seem like they could be real humans with jobs and families and real thoughts and eternal souls. It just seems more plausable that they are some energy form that floats around the universe to fill things out in the back of your consciousness or creep you out if you examine them a little too closely.

So, if I were you, I wouldn't think too much about these people or scrutinize their actions and personality. Just let them subside around the periphery of your consciousness, which is their job. Piercing the veil of the matrix is just too disconcerting, the red pill just too bitter. You might invite demons worse than Jason Vorhess is you try and unmask him.

[rgray222]

My attitude was more like, ok, you want some attention, do you? Well I'm going to stand here and watch you till it becomes uncomfortable for both of us. It was an act that was likely more unpleasant for me than him, but I thought it cunning:)

What a great comment, I literally burst out loud laughing.

[Mike]

Hey Chris, that's an interesting theory. I do know about the backdrop people idea, and I think I actually started a thread on it some time ago.

Ive always thought of the group in there as sort of lifeless apparitions running on a program. They generally all lack a spark of any kind. Then again, I am in there around midnight most nights, so that could explain it.

rgray222, my mother tells me that when I was throwing tantrums as a toddler I'd hold my breath till my face turned blue. All this to get my way. So I haven't come very far. I'm still willing to punish myself if I'm convinced it will also punish someone else who's irritating me. Oh, all while imagining how clever I am, of course:)

[RunningDeer]

I think I actually started a thread on it some time ago.
http://paula.avalonlibrary.net/smilies/write.gif
Mike's thread: Dolores Cannon: The Back Drop People (https://projectavalon.net/forum4/showthread.php?105698-Dolores-Cannon-The-Back-Drop-People&p=1269830&viewfull=1#post1269830)

[rgray222]

I approach the dumbell area and who do I see?

https://img-comment-fun.9cache.com/media/aGzqLGZ/aZlaNN5Y_700wv_0.mp4

[Mike]

I approach the dumbell area and who do I see?

https://img-comment-fun.9cache.com/media/aGzqLGZ/aZlaNN5Y_700wv_0.mp4


If you work really hard and take it one day at a time, you can achieve anything.

[Gemma13]

https://i.pinimg.com/736x/17/af/de/17afde7ade6ae677c6c836edfb0a3fee.jpg