I really did not want to write today about this topic. I had several other things on my mind that might make good blog posts. But it keeps shoving itself in my face, so here we go. Today's post is a little story. Not a happy story, maybe not a sad story, just a story, of how people can sometimes get stressed, and maybe about the perils of living in a large urban environment.
Tonight, I was at the gym, working on the stationary bike, when I realized that I really needed to relax. Maybe, I thought, I should do some yoga. One of my favorite yoga studios was holding a Yin class, and that seemed perfect. So I pulled out my Amex, and charged $17. I googled it and saw that if I got off the bike, I had time to pick up some Subway and still get there on time.
The Subway part of the adventure went fine. ( I don't recommend the guacamole, though). After Subway, I went back to my office to pick up my bike. It's a new job, and I'm still getting used to the bike room thing; it's in the basement and you have to take a special elevator, and I got a bit lost in the maze of the garage. Then, on the way down to Valencia, I was riding in the bike lane and a woman was riding very slowly all the way on the left, next to the cars. I tried to pass her, and she started yelling at me about how I was passing people wrong. This was not a crazy person; this was a hipster. And apparently I was riding my bike wrong, and, you know, needed to be told that in public. Loudly. (She was incorrect, by the way). A bit rattled, I rode on, and showed up to class, but at this point I was 5 minutes late. At this point, I realized I had left my yoga mat at home. They had rental mats, but they cost $1, and I didn't have any cash. The lady gave me a look, but let me take the mat (thanks, lady). I gingerly stepped into the room and immediately was told (nicely) to put my mat down. I did. Then I was told I put my mat down wrong. So we lifted it up and turned it around. I immediately laid down, closed my eyes, and tried very hard to relax.
And failed, utterly. I lay there, thinking about the bike room, the lady who yelled at me on the street, about being late, the fact that I put my mat down wrong, the $1 I owed but couldn't pay, basically everything except relaxing. After laying there for a bit, we transitioned to a different relaxation pose. I closed my eyes and settled in and started to feel peaceful. Suddenly, there was a voice whispering right next to my ear. It was the teacher. Apparently, I was relaxing incorrectly. I politely asked if I could just close my eyes and just keep being, you know, quietly wrong. She visibly huffed and moved on. I closed my eyes again.
And failed, utterly. Now I was thinking about the teacher, and the fact that the room was really damn warm (apparently, she didn't know how to run the system and the room was about 15 degrees warmer than it was supposed to be). And how this class cost $17. After another 10 minutes of this, I finally, blissfully, felt myself calm down. I lay there for about 15 awesome minutes, floating. Finally, class was over. I started putting my props away. When I came back for another load, the teacher was standing on my mat. She kept talking to someone. I had to politely wait for her to move. Then I picked up my final blanket to put it away - and a splinter from the hardwood floor jammed itself under my fingernail. It hurt. Kind of a lot. I grimaced, finished putting my stuff away, put my shoes on my feet, waited my turn at the water dispenser, found some good light, got the splinter out, went outside, unlocked my bike, and rode home (fairly uneventfully). When I got home, I thought to check on my car, which I rent to other people. Turns out the last person had parked it with straight wheels on a hill and received a ticket, which I now have to pay, and hope that I get reimbursed for (which I'm supposed to, and the people from Getaround were very nice).
Not everyone I interacted with tonight was unpleasant and judgmental, and not everything that happened went badly. There were definitely moments of bliss and happiness in the midst of everything. It's hard, thought, not to shake the feeling that I probably would have been better off if I had gotten off that bike, rode home, pulled the covers over my head, and just read a book!