it was the insipid buzzhums an aahs that attend people milling about an on exercise equipment that turned him off about health clubs though he treated his as a gym an got in an out without the apparent necessity of socialising
he worked his circuit through
them asking firmlyseveral times to please move so he could utilise the machine not use the machine utilise it sitting
on their fat asses using it
it was a pet peeve (an one day hed
name the right cat petpeeve p p) that he
had to ask and he asked both men and women
threw him for a loop
one he had to ask
two the disturbing looks he endured for askingan endured isnt hyperbole if he had his druthers hed yank them headlong off the equipment without a word use it or loose it kids get it adolts are well dolts thick asif entitled because life hadnt taken them out yet their unconscious breathing heart beating blood flow chits in their corner fuck
few in the clutch were genuinely
apologetic something else a majority of
adolts seem to have no need for
however in their basting he did overhear something that saddened
him if
he was remembering correctly
finally the bulbous bulk broke
down into single cells approachable cells without the firmament or need of
witness or aggrandizing a guy he knew
from inside the sauna Steve Steve who struggled with obesitywho spent two
hours inside it sweating combatting it you have to give him credit
The circlejerk upstairs among the
equipment people I think youre familiar
with Steve someone who died in a freak
accident I hadnt heard
Yeah Norwood
Im sorry you say his name was
Norwood
Norwood Yeah
Norwood sounded familiar he moved from Western AvenueChicago proper to Norwood Park as a boy to live with his grandmother was that what was familiar to him Norwood Park not the name Norwood
Norwood
Yeah Knew him well
I worked at the prison he worked security we yapped he was the redheaded buzzcut who worked out
here evenings then dressed out in uniform to go to work Always did the overnight gig Liked it I spose
Norwood
Did you ever workout evenings
Used to then lost my job Corporate takeover
Sorry to hear that
Seems the way of the world No
balls Greed It wasnt unexpected At least not unexpected to meunexpected
however to the majority of my coworkers who listened to their bullshit about
jobswho put blind faith into what they were told not what they saw During meetings I called corporate outcalled
them liarstold em to put it in ink or shut their mouths Coworkers told me to shaddupId certainly not
be getting a job but I was jeopardising theirs
Awwell hope springs eternal Untempered optimism They couldnt give me reasons for their
assuredness They just chose to hang on their
words They called them promises
They werent promises They werent in writing Talks cheap
They didnt empower themselvesdidnt resistthey fell over themselves
training corporate employees to do their jobs
But maybe thats where they were
from an I wasnt Nobody got a job though
Norwood sounded familiarmore familiar
than just his boyhood town
Excuse me Steve I spent a number of years as a boy in Norwood
Park
Oh
Yeah Norwood I dont particularly wanna ask this Norwoods son die of leukemia You
know him
Shit Im afraid I do He
died Yes
Im sorry to hear that
Its worse than sorry
Worse
Yeah You know the guysweet guywouldnt turn anyone downturn anyone
away He was runover by a
seventysixyearold man who stomped the accelerator not the brake
while going in reverse Evidently
he lost control of the car when it lurked
News described him as confused
I dont think you get to walk away confused
no matter how old you are
I think hell plead confusion The State did authorize a drivers license to
him
Licenses bring in money Its capital
Capital accumulation no matter human costs Theres more where they came from
Thats bleak
No Bleak You
want bleak Norwood was the kind of guy who would go out
of his way for you
Unfortunately he couldnt get out of the way
Unfortunately he couldnt get out of the way
1300, Sunday,
21 1. 18
1916, Klimt Monday,
22 1. 18
