I’ve written before about my extensive internal dialogue and my propensity to replay social scenes in my head, looking for ways I could have said the right thing. Shockingly, this character trait comes in handy sometimes, as recently evidenced at Lifetime Fitness. I was taking the weights off a bar on a squat rack, and I realized I did not have enough space for the remaining plates. To my left, a woman was using another squat rack, which had room for the plates.

Now, it’s generally good form to say something when you approach somebody else lifting (especially someone doing squats or standing shoulder presses, as she was) — this prevents you from being bopped in the head by a bar because the other person doesn’t see you. So with this in mind, I very nearly said, “Can I use your rack?” With milliseconds to spare, something told me that wasn’t the right thing to say.

I put the weights elsewhere.

• Weight lifting
• Conversations

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