Bad Temper

I like to think of myself as a relatively good natured person.  Easy going, and generally pretty happy.  But yesterday morning I quit the Fit for Life classes that I had been attending and switched back to the weight lifting classes.  Actually, what I did was walk out of the first class, visit the registration desk to switch, return to class to grab my stuff and leave.  Why?  Because no matter how even tempered I am, there is a line that you are better off not crossing until after I've had my morning coffee.  Only one cup of coffee, but if you yell or whine or flap nasty attitude at me before I've had a chance to caffeinate, there will be repercussions and consequences.

Yesterday was the start of our final 6 week set of classes for the season.  Some people have dropped out because they are keeping fit by golfing or gardening.  Other people have joined the classes.  We had two new attendees.  They are obviously sisters, there is a very strong resemblance.  And that's another story.  You know how very few people are naturally beautiful?  Most of us muddle around in the middle of the range, not ugly most of the time, kinda scary on the bad days, and looking okay on the good days.  Then there are people who just look bad tempered.  Their brows are furrowed and their mouths turn down all of the time.  They look squinchy around the eyes and don't ever smile.   

Well, that's what these two sisters looked like.  Their hair was blonde-gray and standing up in places, like Phyllis Diller (except she actually worked very hard to look that way).  They looked bad tempered and stomped around the gym.  The scariest one stomped up to me, flapped her gym mat on the floor, grabbed the rest of her equipment and said "everything is a fricking challenge" in a loud and angry voice.  Well. I had no idea what she was talking about, but it got my back up immediately.  Apparently I had positioned myself between the two sisters, inadvertently.  I moved myself and my gym mat and equipment over so that these two charming ladies could stay together, but once the class started it became obvious that they were uncoordinated and they both ended up in my space.

I looked around the gym and there was nowhere obvious that I could move to, because the class is pretty full.  I contemplated my choices, and decided that it would be better for me to return to the weightlifting class than to continue working out with these ladies.  Now, possibly they could have turned out to be perfectly wonderful companions, and we could have become friends for life.  But as petty as it sounds, once someone has irritated me to that extent, it's highly unlikely that I'm going to give them another chance.  I know it's a character flaw but it just seemed to be a lot easier to avoid any future aggravation.  

As it turns out, I prefer the weightlifting class anyway.  There are only 6 people in this session so I'm getting the benefit of a semi-private weightlifting class at a very nice price.  There is no waiting for equipment, and after comparing the two classes, I prefer the weightlifting.   A happy outcome after a shaky start to the day.