Did you mean Jim or Gym?

There’s this vicious rumour going around that the best place to meet people is in the gym. Whilst this seems like a good idea in principle, after all you get to see suitable people in fewer closes than usual(!), why are all the ladies always with their boyfriends? I guess, yet again, this must be something only be applicable to the single ladies.

With everyone going I-Pod crazy these days, just about every woman comes to my gym equipped with some form of MP3 player (even more so after Christmas) and is happy enough to pound away on the treadmill or rowing machine in their own little world. And with this wall of music blasting away in their ears, striking up a conversation is pretty much impossible (unless you're a good mime artist).

Never the less, I have a master plan – I’ll simply wait until I go poolside or into the sauna and strike up some small talk with anyone who looks interesting (see, I’m not just relying on the Internet dating). Unfortunately, this never seems to go to plan as just as I’m about to open my mouth to say something their boyfriend appears, kisses them on the forehead and then proceeds to talk about what they're going to have for their lunch/evening meal. Now, this observation may seem to aimed at one particular person, but, oh no, it can be aimed at just about every (newly identified) couple in the gym.

Oh well, if you can't beat them, join them. Now where did I go and put my I-Pod?......