It's Just The Little Things

I pass Coach P. as fast as possible. I laugh at his not funny joke. I turn into the locker room and pause. Before he notices me I turn into the first row of lockers and stealthily make my way down the walkway parallel to the one he stands in. I sigh with relief and quickly walk out onto the pool deck. He'll be back again another day, and I might not be so lucky.

I had an eventful week, but I had a few small experiences that made me happier than anything else. I'm super busy and school is getting more stressful as I get closer to Christmas. I believe it was these small experiences that I'm about to mention that kept me from slowly strangling myself with my own foot. You think I can't do it? Well, I can. Some of them are a little blurry in my mind but I'll summarize them as best as I can for you.

Back to the beginning. You know the thing that I tried to avoid in the locker room? It was a naked man. But not just a naked man, an old, naked man. Now if you aren't sure what it's like to see a full standing naked old man in the locker room, it isn't pretty. Not so much because of how they physically look but because of how they react to your face when you see them. They look at you with this shrewd, squinty eyed face that conveys the message, "Don't get any ideas." Sometimes though, you get one who smiles at you or just looks stunned. They aren't much better. If you're lucky they'll stay confined to the showers but every once in a while they begin to wander through the locker room. The worst part about them is probably that they regularly look like they're lost. Once, I was getting ready to go home and a short, naked, and old man walked into my range of vision and looked at me a moment before continuing to an undetermined location at his slow, wobbly pace. Now all the things I mentioned are pretty basic naked elderly experiences, but mine didn't stop there. If he was just standing like a normal naked elder I would have easily slipped past without hesitation, but my naked elder appeared to be doing stretches. His legs were shoulder length and he had his right arm pulled over his head and he was gripping it with his left. His back was to me, so he didn't see me. I hesitated for a moment that gave me just enough time to accidentally absorb the picture in front of me. I'm assuming that women's locker room have their share of naked elders as well, but since I'm not a girl (in case you didn't already know), I have no way of knowing. After you get through a few naked elders though, it becomes more of a funny experience than a traumatizing one. I left the locker room that day laughing on the inside. In the situation, I did the best possible thing.

Other than the nude, aerobic, elder, my week had little excitement. I had a swim meet where I learned that Sill has a retainer with two of her teeth on it. It is a really good retainer because up until that point I had no idea. I danced around like always. I also donated ten dollars to a school for special ed children to learn functional skills. Myles walked around with a milk jug and asked for cash. I dropped a few coins in at first, but when I found out the bus wasn't going to stop for food, I gave him my mother's ten dollar bill. "You're a saint." Myles said to me afterward. I reasoned in my head how to explain it to my mother. I decided on giving her one of my tens instead so technically I was the one who paid for it. Later she said to keep the ten and I figured that made us even. Whether or not it did, I decided to leave it at that.

I'm thinking of Christmas a lot, and time slows more as it comes closer. I hate to feel like a material person and say that I'm only in it for the presents, but they help me get there without exploding into little meaty chunks. This year I want Skyrim, some iTunes money, cool new threads, maybe a hat, and a pair of aviator goggles. Why the aviator goggles? Because they look cool. I really just want the break so I can sleep for a couple days without any stress at all. I'm no good at giving presents so normally I just pay my parents for something they already got that person. I always figured that my presence was gift enough. That was a lie. I've never felt like that. Happy third week of Advent!