Parents at the gym

parent no. 1: a tall man whom the trainers simply call “doc”. he brought his son to box with him last saturday. father and son did everything alongside each other – from warming up to a couple of rounds in the gym. a couple of times while i was working out, i would catch a glimpse of doc teaching his son how to do his crunches properly, or overseeing how the trainer put on the kid’s hand wraps.

they didn’t say much to each other or to other people in the gym, but i noticed both a certain radiance about the boy. i imagined that being allowed to share such a “grown-up” pursuit with his dad made him feel so special. one could see it in in how quiet and careful he was, where a little boy would normally be exuberant and noisy and all over the place.

parent no. 2: kathleen, a young, fresh-faced mom with three mestizo, super-adorable kids aged nine, seven and six. she usually brings her eldest son, tommy, to box – with his chubby, rosy cheeks and surprising stamina, he’s the default darling of the ring. kathleen and i got to chat for the first time in the locker room, and i commented on it being my first time to see her daughter, ashleigh, at the gym that day.

“ay, dinadala ko talaga ‘ yan minsan,” she replied cheerily. “para pag mag-away sila ng kuya niya, may chance naman siyang lumaban.” she chattered on about how ashleigh simply didn’t have time to box anymore – what with figure skating, tennis, ballet, piano and go-karting.

“go-karting?!” i blurted. gosh. times, they are a-changing. in my day *pats hair primly*, all little girls had to suffer through ballet and piano to fulfill the ilusyon of the perfect, well-rounded little girl held by an entire generation of middle-class moms. i did tennis, too, and painting and summer acting workshops at the all-but-dead rep. but never anything half as cool as go-karting.

parent no. 3: winnie, a producer for two of the shows that i handle. close to her forties (i’m guessing), her ease to work with and abundant dry wit has made her one of my favorite clients. she usually goes to the gym her husband, nestor, and with another client, redgynn, who was alone that day.

“o, wala ata ang gym buddy mo,” i remarked to redgynn in the locker room.

“ang gym buddy ko? preggy!” exclaimed redgynn. “diba, humabol pa? all this time na nagwo-work out kami, two months na pala siyang buntis! just goes to show,” she continued, “pag physically fit ka, mas mabilis kang makakabuo!”

“so dapat ba tayong mag-ingat?” i joked.

“immaculate conception?” she retorted. “ibang level na ng physical fitness ‘yon!”

parent no. 4: one of the daddy types i usually see at the gym. while i was dressing up, i overheard an exchange between him and the male locker room attendant.

“bye sir!” chimed the attendant amiably. “direcho uwi na po ah, wag nang kakaliwa!”

daddy fell silent for a beat, then laughed awkwardly: “ah, eh, may konting detour lang sandali.”
then it was the locker room attendant’s turn to fall silent. i guess he didn’t expect his joke to actually hit a mark.

nakakagalit, actually. i can’t help but wish that his kind of parent dies out with his generation. and so i try to think of doc, kathleen and winnie, and hope things will be better.