Locker Room, U.S.A.

Tucked away in one corner of my Equinox gym which, itself, is tucked away on the ground floor of my awesome employer's office building lies a community all to-itself. Virtually uninhabited for most of the week, this community, like New York City, sees its population spike during its rush hours of the business week. While this community only allows entry to those of the male population, its sister community shares is situated directly across from it and even shares a borderline with it and offers the same services for those of the female population. And, while the transience of its population is manifested in the fact that one never leaves its confines wearing the same outfit they entered with, much can be learned about the peoples of this community simply from sustained observation over the course of no more than a month or two.

Having now been a member of Equinox for almost four months, I have made some interesting (and, if I do say so myself, perceptive) observations in my time spent in this community more commonly known as the men's locker room.

The first thing that can be gleaned from the locker room is the ability to recognize who the dedicated/sustained gym-goers are, who the more casual gym members are and who those people are for whom the gym is nothing more than a way to make them feel like they are exercising while, in reality, no real exercise will ever actually be done.

The Dedicated Gym-Goers (including those 'positive' factors possessed by The Casual Gym-Goers and excluding the negatives ones)

- After working out and getting ready to take a shower, these people will pull from the lockers their flip-flops still in the plastic bag provided in the locker room from yesterday's workout (the most dedicated gym goers' flip flops will actually still be wet from yesterday's shower)

- Upon arriving in the locker room, these people have the ability to change into their gym clothes and stow their regular clothes all within a one-minute timeframe

- Having seen it done enough times to know that it's not frowned upon, these people will use the hair dryer to dry not only the hair on the top of their head but also the hair on their chests and back (the most dedicated gym goer is even comfortable enough to dry his lower regions as well)

The Casual Gym-Goers

- Upon first entering the locker room in his business casual gear, these people will first grab a plastic bag for their gym clothes for efficiency purposes after their workouts

- These are the people who oftentimes are talking to each other in the locker room and, with the acoustics being what they are, overheard by everyone else

- After a few times at the gym, these people realize the importance of making sure there is enough shower gel and shampoo in the shower they're about to use before actually using it

The Fake Gym-Goers

- These are the people who ask to get a tour of the locker room before making the decision whether to join the gym in the first place. Whenever I see a person getting a tour of the locker room, I know that that that will be the last time I ever see him (whether or not he actually ends up joining the gym, I'm pretty confident he will rarely, if ever, use it)

- There are the people who will check their Blackberries before changing into their gym clothes and one last time before exiting the locker room (and also is the first thing he does upon returning from his 12 minutes workout)

I never took anthropology, sociology or any of the other 'ology' classes when I was in university. Knowing that you can understand the ways of society simply through being a fully integrated member of that society, I thought it best to take classes which were less familiar to me and which would teach me things that I could not learn on my own. Looking back on that decision, I am confident that I made the right decision. Having been a member of the Equinox locker room community for only four months, I have been able to learn much about its inhabitants and been able to learn truths through their actions.

Ironically enough, and as a conclusion, I guess the best way to tell the dedicated gym-goers from the rest of the groups is to see if they too could write a post quite similar to one you've just read!