The following is an honest question. It is not meant as an insult to anyone
involved (except possibly myself, for being stupid, if the answer is obvious). And
it's sad in a way that I have to put that disclaimer into what is, after all, a
diary, but then again, if I want to make my diary public there are certain
responsibilities that go along. You are warned, though, that the following is a
bit un-PC.
When you go to the same gym at the same time for a long
time, you see the same people in the locker room. They cycle in and out, as they
start working out and then give up or change their schedule or move away. The gym
where I shower after rowing seems to have a lot more turnover than the one nearer
home where I lift. I've been seeing a couple of new women, clearly friends, at the
former lately. One is fat and one is very fat, and I'm not using those words
carelessly. I can't estimate weights, but the smaller one would have a hard time
fitting in a standard office chair with arms and the other is much larger.
So OK, just to start off with, props to both for coming to the gym,
which I know can be scary when you start. Second, kudos to both for not being
squeamish about locker rooms. Many much smaller people go to great lengths to make
sure their flesh is covered at all times -- I'm not sure if they think people
would laugh or be crazed with lust, but yeah, whatever. And I can also report
that both have cool tattoos. In fact, I keep meaning to ask one whether the red-
headed girl with pigtails on her back is Anne or Pippi - either way it says
"possible friend" to me. The other has an elaborate faery on her leg, all wings
and long hair and Rackham-ish.
The extremely fat one was sitting on
the locker room bench yesterday in her underwear. I noticed because from where I
was the locker bank at right angles just revealed an enormous belly sitting on a
thigh, which for some reason is a disconcerting thing to catch out of the corner
of your eye. But here's the part I don't get: below the belly was a whole 'nother
body part, sort of round and hanging separate, about the size of a volley ball,
pinkish and covered with dimpled skin like a rough orange peel. I honestly can't
figure out what it was. Another fold of belly? Could be, but it just didn't look
like it was attached in that way. A growth? I can't imagine not having it removed
well before it got to be that size, especially for someone health-conscious enough
to be at the gym. Odd.
Definitely not the type of thing locker
room protocol permits asking about. But I do have to ask about that tattoo.
Anyhow, I do plan to talk to both more; they seem very nice and the choice of
tattoos indicates some intelligence to me, a vast improvement over some of the
dimwitted snots I've seen there before.