Yes, Another Complaint

So, I go to this very posh gym. My mother pays for it because she thinks I'm fat. No, no, no, I'm sorry--my mother pays for it because she wants me to have time to myself. Or something like that.

Anyway, the conversationsI overhear there are fascinating. I would say the emblematic statement was "There are so many expenses connected to the au pair that we didn't anticipate; it's really cutting into our wine budget."

There are about 10 showers in the locker room. Four (along one wall) are double-depth showers, so you can step completely out of the spray and sit down on a stool to shave your legs, and dry off without being a contortionist. The other six are normal, perfectly nice and adequate showers.

Many women absolutely refuse to use anything but a big shower. Maybe I'm reading too much into this, but it really seems as if they're saying, I'm not accepting second best in anything, ever. And when I head for the shower and there's one woman waiting, it's easy enough to chuckle, "Oh, I guess I'll go ahead and take one of these." But when there's a line of five or six women waiting while four small showers stand open, it's hard for someone as shy as me to walk all the way to the front and essentially (it seems to me) say, "I'm not quite as spoiled and insecure as the rest of you."

Except I am insecure, because I stand at the back and pretend that I'm holding out for a biggie too.