kindness of strangers
personal draining
To overcome a longterm injury I’ve taken on some personal training, in a stinky gym paved in black rubber. I can only afford two half hour sessions per week so we need to get us some work done. The trainer is strawberry blonde and perky, with perfect ankles and a somewhat staring pair of baby-blue eyes. On our third meeting she mentioned casually some news about her career: “I got a call-back from the someone-or-others!” I must have looked blank, though I said, “Good for you!” because she said innocently,
“Don’t you know anything about me at all?”
This so tickled my sense of humour that I instantly dropped into expressionless deadpan. My first thought was, Darling: I am so much older now than you will ever be. I said, levelly, “Why, no. I guess I don’t. The only stuff I know about you is what I have gleaned in these last two half hour training sessions.”
She took this as an invitation to fill me in. Outside our window the sun was setting and a dozen people churning up and down sprinting earnestly put my grunting machinations to poor shame. Her degree was in something. With a major in something and pilates and something else. She worked on a cruise ship? as a dancer? only then her brother got married so she had to come home – for the wedding. “Oh,” I said. And then she got this job with Anthony (the gym owner) and now she has been here two months only she’s passed an audition with such and such cruises (“Wow!” I said) and so by August she plans to be airborne again. That is, she’ll be seaborne on the world’s largest single cause of waste pollution, but her dance routine is “aerial” and in costume – last time round she wore glitter on her eyelids and was dressed “as a wasp.” Right, then.
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What’s a perfect ankle? Lol
Actually Alexandra it might be her trainers – the trainer’s trainers – which are raspberry-coloured and striped with lime zigzags. Her legs are so immaculately shaved. Her ankles have this golden glow. I can’t explain.
Is that a photo of you on the blog entry?
That’s me trying on a swimsuit in David Jones.
I love it. Great photo and great swimsuit and you look amazing.
Thanks, bella spunkrat. A fine compliment from a very fine lady.
Thank you, Manfred! I do feel my good fortune. Specially in the opportunity to rehearse the fab words dooverlackie, whatchamacallit, whatsit, and thingamajig.
Wow, you are sooooo fortunate to have a real such-n-such person to be your so-n-so to take an in depth interest in your whatever …. ????
Well at least it’s in costume! I’m used to people assuming they know about me through chance meetings, my appearance and under particular circumstances such as the church I take my parents to. I find it amusing that someone should presume I knew all about them if they didn’t open up to me first. So glad you took an interest, though.