Back in 2007, I had two posts on how straightforward the people here are. You can re-read them here and here. Throughout 2008, I had mild encounters with people commenting on things like my hair looking a little dehydrated or how tanned I've become. Over here, being tanned is not a good thing.
Anyway, today, I was slapped in the face with some of that straightforwardness again.
The trainers in the gym usually leave me alone. I don't really like chatting while I'm panting away. They're still friendly and make some sort of small talk when I move to the free weights area. I don't say much so they leave me alone after that.
I go in the afternoon and more often than not, its the most chatty of the trainers on duty. His name is easy to remember because it sounds a little like "towel" in Indonesian. Anyhow, as I was there, doing my squats, he comes up and says "Your legs are good. They're the hottest part of your body! Calf, thighs, behind...GOOD." I'm not kidding! That is a direct translation of what he said in Indonesian. I was a little uncomfortable but he said it like it was the most normal thing to say. Anyway, I took it as a compliment. Why not, eh?
Immediately after that, he launched into something like this:
"Its your upper body that needs work. Its way too skinny. You've got absolutely nothing there. You need to work on your chest. You should pull your shoulders back more, stick your chest out." He then tries to show me a series of exercises that will help in that department.
OK. OK. I get it. So I'm no Pamela Anderson. No amount of exercising or sticking my chest out is going to change that!
I wasn't insulted though. This is just the way people here sometimes talk. They mean no harm and he was trying to be helpful I suppose.
4 comments:
That would take some getting used too. You could have countered with 'you could use a little work yourself'.
I encountered this issue a LOT in Korea. I'm an XL girl and I was like Gulliver there - everyone is TINY which makes me seem more like an XXXXXXL girl. People had no problem telling me directly that I am "fat" or just comparing me to a pig - seriously, and they didn't mean it in a mean way, they just honestly felt it was okay to compare me to a large farm animal. It is interesting...
I guess that would take some getting used to. When I go to the gym, the trainers just shake their heads and try to give me my money back.
This is why I avoid eye contact with the trainers at the gym...You just know they will talk at you:P
Post a Comment