Le Weekly #4 – Treadmill Queue 💦

One quote, one shoutout, one story, one neigh from Philosophical Horse and one question.

Mike Wright

Dec 04, 2023

Greetings everyone. Welcome to Le Weekly!

Take a moment to reflect on each snippet. Comment your thoughts below.

Le Quote 🗣️

“Something is better than nothing.” – Richard Freund.

Le Shoutout 🧣

Sam Holmes is a local podcaster and hockey coach. The other day, he posted a photo of a “stair climber machine” on his Instagram story. He said it was the best workout he had done in a while.

I tried it, and it was great.

Now, I am a stair-climbing fan.

Shoutout Sam.

Le Story ✍️

Treadmills are useful when used correctly. They are perfect for running in rainy weather or for a quick warm-up before a workout, raising your heart rate in preparation for action.

The other morning, I woke up with the newfound urge to use a stair climber machine instead. I got to the gym, walked to the stair climber machines, and saw they were all taken.

“No worries”, I thought to myself, “I’ll just hop on a treadmill”.

So I walked over to the treadmills.

Alas, the only treadmill available was the one that stood right behind a pillar.

“No worries”, I thought to myself, “I’ll just stare at the pillar”.

So I jumped on.

After 30 seconds of walking, I saw someone step off a nearby treadmill that wasn’t behind a pillar. I looked around to see if anyone was waiting for it.

A man in an orange shirt was standing nearby, but he didn’t seem interested in the treadmill…

Thinking the coast was clear, I stepped off my treadmill and onto the other.

From behind me, the man in the orange shirt cleared his throat:

“Hey sorry, there is a queue. I was waiting for this treadmill,” he said.

“Apologies, I saw you nearby but didn’t realise you were waiting. I was on that treadmill (points at the treadmill behind the pillar) but hopped onto this one because of the view.”

“Well, today you can’t have a view.”

Eish, I flinched at the terse comment and tried not to react. I knew I could simply return to the treadmill behind the pillar that I had literally just stepped off 10s earlier. I accepted the situation, started walking back to the pillar, and watched in slow motion as someone else stepped on.

Lost, bewildered and disgruntled in a sea of occupied treadmills, I spun around treadmill-less, directionless.

Mid-spin, I caught a glimpse of the stair climber machines again. In the time taken to navigate the treadmill section, someone had finished their stair climbing session.

I stopped spinning around, put my gym towel around my neck, stepped onto the machine, recognised my original plan (that I woke up with) was unfolding smoothly (despite everything that had happened in between), clicked *start* and started climbing.

Later on, the man in the orange shirt walked over and apologised for the treadmill incident; he said he felt bad for the way everything had unfolded. I thanked him and apologised for my misjudgment and miscommunication, too.

Having cleared the air, the underlying tension lifted immediately. We had a quick chat and wished each other well for the day.

Before disappearing into the horizon, he said: “Remember for next time: This is the busiest gym in the country. If you do manage to find a treadmill for your warmup, don’t worry about the view.”

Le Neigh from Philosophical Horse 🐴

“Neigh” – Philosophical Horse.

Le Question 🤔

What is the “treadmill without a view” that you need to walk on for a bit this week?

Have a great Monday, everyone!

Previous Newsletters:

(Remember to send this to someone who you think would enjoy Le Weekly)

#3 – Lemonade 🍋
#2 – Meat Factory 🥩
#1 – Woolworths Maternitywear 👚

See Sam’s podcast here and Richard’s charitable efforts here.