[quote]Chris Colucci wrote:
"I see you here all the time. Figured I’d say hey. I’m Chris. "[/quote]
Wait, you didn’t follow that with…
“Now tell me EXACTLY what you ate yesterday.”
Joking aside, I sort of see things from the other side of the fence now too. People come and go all of the time.
A guy might show up, lift some weights, walk around with his arms flared out and chest puffed out, complain about his shoulder problems being the reason why he’s not benching 300, and then never be seen again.
A woman may come and randomly pick up weights and then do some treadmill work and then shuffle out to do whatever she does before her next appearance in two months. This is very common at my gym.
I really don’t concern myself with them at all. I don’t offer them help unless asked, I don’t say anything besides a polite “Hello” if eye contact is made. I do my thing and let them do theirs. They may think that I am thinking all sorts of things about them, but I’m not. They are just another person I don’t know getting their work in.
That said, I am not wishing that these new people would go away. I want to see people succeed and meet their goals. The world needs more happy and healthy people. I definitely notice when a new person shows up again, and they get a telepathic “attaboy” from me.
Once you notice that someone is really sticking with it everyone at my gym tends to warm up pretty fast. One older fellow that lifts during the same time I do looks like someone who would slash your face with a broken whiskey bottle and take your wallet just for his own amusement.
He is big, muscular and menacing-looking. He makes all kinds of noises when he lifts, and I was always a bit worried that his wires might touch and he’d beat me with one of the pins from the power rack.
It turns out he is one of the friendliest and most positive regulars there, not to mention knowing quite a bit about the iron game.
Long story short, assuming that others are judging you negatively is not always correct. You can find a lot of very positive people at a place like the gym.