Sometimes I Shouldn’t Say Words

I am an enthusiast of the steam room at the gym. The sauna and hot tub are sub-par substitutes that I will settle for, but there is nothing like the dripping, cleansing, scorching experience of the steam room. I stay until I cannot stand it any longer. Not in a macho “no pain, no gain,” type of way. I love it. I decide to leave when I realize that if I don’t get out now I may have trouble doing so in a minute. I say all this to say: I am in tune with the experience of extreme heat. If you are a steam room person, we are kindred spirits. This was my mental backdrop when I saw a woman in the locker room with deep, pink-red, sweaty skin -- obviously fresh from a great steam. The words that came to mind? “You look HOT!”

Luckily, I know by now that sometimes I shouldn’t say words, so I kept my mouth shut and am not banned from my gym’s locker room.

Last winter at the gym, I had one of those strangely beautiful moments that will occasionally sneak up on a lucky person. Two friends were in shower stalls on either side of me, talking in a language that I can only guess was Chinese. It sounded like bells: round, mysterious, musical sounds surrounding me, all mixed together with steam and endorphin-euphoria.

Every time I considered telling someone this story, it started out sounding like a bad joke, “So I was showering between two Asian girls ….”

Right, sometimes I shouldn’t say words.