What Is This World Coming To?!?!

Some of you may know that I joined the South City Family YMCA a couple months ago in an effort to rejuvenate my workout routines. Many aspects drew me to this facility - the pool, the location (if it were any closer they would have to pay rent to be in our yard)...and of course, the old people. I LOVE old people. I love being around them, flirting with old men, waving to my pal Esther as I enter the pool and she's leaving, etc. But at some point, these woman lost complete control.

There's an unwritten rule (in my opinion) that when someone is naked, or near naked, in the locker room it's bad form to initiate a conversation. As I was getting ready after my swim last week, an old lady energetically trots by and inquires about my underwear.

"Are those things comfortable - they certain don't look like it" - she says...AND PROCEEDS TO SNAP THE WASTE BAND OF MY UNDERWEAR!

If conversation is awkward in varying states of being disrobed, touching is completely out of the question.

My take: These women are reverting back to their youthful selves. I have never seen people act this way, barring teenage girls. They prance around the locker room naked, giggle, compare days, talk about lotions and hairstyles they like or don't like...and then there's the old man. There is one, rather handsome, 80-year+ old man that is the only man in their water aerobics class. This man is usually swimming fast laps of freestyle when I get there for my measly 36 laps and is still swimming when I leave. Usually as I walk out of the Y, I look into the pool area. He'll be lined up for a water aerobics class with 30-35 elderly ladies in their swim caps and skirted swimsuits. He bobs around, working the group. He doesn't stay in one place, but mingles amongst his lady friends. And that is where the whole "old ladies gone wild" started, in my opinion.

Ok, so I got off on kind of a tangent. This probably could have been two posts - one about the raucous old ladies in the locker room, and one about the "socially active" old man.

Even though I felt slightly violated at the underwear snap, it also felt good to be accepted. I love that these women are there every day - without fail. They have a recreational activity that makes them feel good about themselves and allows them to make friends and interact with them.

I believe I would continue going there even if one of the old ladies slapped my bare ass...mostly because I love to see them happy (and I guess I'm willing to sacrifice my own comfort for that? Weird.)