Years ago, a buddy got me going to his gym so he could show me the ropes. He’d been lifting most of his life and I really trusted him. It was the sort of gym where people go to do serious work. A lifter’s lifting gym. Everyone there looked so serious and were pressing so much weight. I have never been that sort.

But they were all incredibly kind to me. Helped me when they thought I needed it. Never in a demeaning way. Any bad vibes I got from them was pretty much on me.

Those were really cool times. The gym would shut down about two years later and I haven’t really gone to a gym since.