Gym Showers On a completely non-food related note, I would like to talk about gym bathroom etiquette. Now, I have been showering at the gym in the morning, on and off, for about three years. Before that I always had an erratic schedule and never really had a job with set hours to work around. Now, its hard to commit to going to the gym any time other than first thing in the morning...and since the gym is usually closer to my job than it is to my home, I end up showering there.

No, I think that I have pretty good gym etiquette. I take a towel with me and wipe off the treadmills and machines when I am done; I try to be mindful if someone else is waiting to use a machine that I am using...you know, the basics. At first the whole idea of showering at the gym freaked me out a little, but I quickly got used to it. My Swedish friends are quick to remind me of how inhibited Americans are about nudity and their bodies, and for the most part, I can see where they are coming from...but I've seen things in these gym bathrooms...things that make me want to break the very first and most important rule of gym etiquette--no laughing in the ladies room.

When I showered at the gym in Culver City, there was a woman who would sing in the shower. Not once in a while, but every morning. At the Hollywood gym, the tiny Asian women would walk around the nudist of all nude. One woman asked me to zip up her dress, which clearly was a size or two too small for her, but I tried my best to oblige, even though the zipper would only go about 1/2 way up. Yep, I've seen a lot of stuff, but never laughed until today.

As I walked from the shower room to my locker, wrapped in my towel, I saw something that made me break the first rule...the golden rule if you will. It was a woman wearing underwear, a towel on her head, and cowboy boots. No bra. Nothing else. Just underwear and cowboy boots. Now, this may not have been so funny, except for the constant commentary on everyone and everything around me running through my head, and instantly exclaimed, "Yee-ha!" Damn you inner monologue. Damn you straight to hell! But really, who gets dressed in that order? Underwear first, I can understand...but boots second? Unless you are indulging some sort of sexual fantasy, there is no reason for just underwear and boots.