Karmic retribution's a b-word.

**Just yesterday, I posted some stories about some silly things some people have said or done. This wasn't very nice of me. Karma has scolded me for my wrong doing. I apologize. By way of an actual meaningful apology to the universe, I give you the following story.**

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My Turn
I go to the gym kind of a lot, roughly 5 days a week. These days, I mostly run on a treadmill. It's actually not as bad as it might sound. I enjoy it. When I first started going to the gym, I was a little nervous. It felt like everyone was staring. It felt like they were silently judging. Now, I'm pretty sure they were just staring to make sure I was still breathing. I'm a lot more comfortable there now and have even met a few people along the way.

There's one guy in particular, who I run into all the time. He runs on a treadmill ,too. Except that he runs way faster than I do. When he first started showing up at my workout times, he would stare pretty unfriendly-like. Since then, we've been working on our gym-social skills together. He stopped staring for awhile. Then he started to catch my eye and smile. One day, he was coming into the gym when I was on the treadmill and he big-toothy grinned at me through the window. We call this progress! Today, he passed me in the hallway, smiled, waved, AND said "hi'. I nearly fainted.

Today was Tuesday. I run with a friend from work on Tuesdays. We were on our way out of the office when I got a phone call that had to be taken. With one hand over the receiver, I whisper, "Go on without me. I"ll catch up." My friend melodramatically bangs his head on the doorframe, but nonetheless agrees and scampers off to hit the treadmill solo.

By the time I get to the gym, get changed, run into the Not-So Talkative Smiley-Boy in the hallway, and then hit the cardio room, my friend is already halfway through with his workout. No sweat. I just hop onto the treadmilll next to him and we're off and running. About a half mile in, Not-So Talkative Smiley-Boy shows up on a treadmill just a few down the row. He smiles kindly, but then puts his headphones on and gets to work.

For a few short moments, it's total zen. I'm half-way into the workout. Breathing is regulated. Music is flowing. Just sweaty enough to know that I'm working out, but not so sweaty that my make-up is messed-up. My friend cruises through his last speed lap and he's done. He cools down. Sprays the antiseptic stuff on a paper towel and wipes down his machine. He takes off and I'm free to finish my workout at smile at the guy down the row. This is good stuff.

5, 4, 3, 2, 1. Woohoo! I'm done. Thank goodness. It felt great, but I'm a little woozy. I walk for a couple minutes to let my heart rate drop safely to normal levels. I'm really sweaty now, but I feel kind of badass and I don't really care. (Oh, i hope my eye make-up is still in place.) I walk over to the paper towel dispenser and spray it with antiseptic. On my way back to my treadmill I smile and give a little wink to Not-So Talkative Smiley-Boy. He grins widely and looks away a little too quickly. Awww, how cute! He's shy. Well, that's probably because I'm a badass. I'd feel a little shy too.

I skip back over to the treadmills and start wiping down my machine. Pretty proud of myself. Great run...check. Boldy winking at cute boy...check. I'm going to town wiping down my little treadmill. Got the side rails. Cleaning the screen. Very proud of my work! I even got the cup holder....speaking of cup holders, where's my water bottle? "Oh, shit. Someone stole my water bottle...and my towel. Oh my god. What kind of low-life steals someone's water bottle and sweaty gym towel?" I'm looking all around the floor, a little panicky, definitely freaked out. All of a sudden, it hits me...I'm standing on the wrong treadmill. I just sauntered around, winked at a dude, and SCRUBBED the treadmill just to the left of the one I sweated on. (Maybe no one noticed?) Nope, they're staring. They're silently judging. I can't even stand to look at Not-So Talkative Smiley-Boy, whom I just WINKED at...get me out of here!

As quickly as possible, I run through the process of wiping down my actual treadmill and retreat to the locker room ASAHP (as soon as humanly possible). I'm embarassed, annoyed, and really really sweaty. I need to just take a shower and move on with my day. Seriously, it could have been much worse, right? Just then, I catch a glimpse of myself in the mirror and realize why Not-So Talkative Smiley-Boy grinned and looked away a little too quickly. He's not shy, he might have been laughing. Apparently, I got very sweaty towards the end of my workout. Sweaty enough to smear my eye makeup down my cheek. I looked like Gene Simmons. Great. Before today, Not-So Talkative Smiley-Boy probably referred to me as the Cute-Smiley Girl at the Gym and now I'm likely Gene Simmons Wanna-be Idiot Who WINKED At Me and Then Wiped Down Someone Else's Treadmill. Yep, that's progress alright.

And, that's what I get for poking fun at someone else's mistakes. Lesson learned.