*Interview conducted in November, 2024.*

Rick Rosner: I ran into a friend of mine, who’s quite talkative, at the gym. He was complaining about a guy I’ve had issues with as well. Nowadays, I tend to walk away from trouble at the gym, mostly because I try to avoid conflict in general.

I’ve given up expecting people at the gym to behave as they once did—with basic gym etiquette. That standard has largely disappeared. People in my age group learned about weightlifting from Arnold Schwarzenegger, who became famous in the mid to late 1970s. He brought bodybuilding and weightlifting into mainstream culture. Back then, the generation that frequented gyms adhered to a certain level of gentlemanly behavior. There was a recognized etiquette.

Perhaps it was because many people were lifting significant weights and, with some using performance enhancers like steroids, there was an unspoken understanding to act with respect. Everyone understood the potential consequences of tempers flaring if things went wrong. But that was then. Now, smartphones have disrupted gym behavior because they are so distracting. In the past, inconsiderate behavior was rare.

This shift is also why I don’t get as angry at drivers anymore. Everyone seems to drive poorly these days because the factors contributing to it are pervasive. Smartphones are a major cause, and perhaps the post-pandemic world has impacted people’s focus and patience. Cars now come equipped with large, distracting heads-up displays that don’t necessarily make driving safer. If bad driving is widespread, it’s difficult to single out individuals when everyone seems affected.

I’ve had plenty of frustrating encounters at the gym. For instance, someone will be on their phone, and I’ll stand there waiting to use a machine. This can go on for about three minutes. I typically give people a few minutes or go do a set on a different machine before coming back. When I return, they’re often still on their phone. By now, five minutes may have passed. At that point, I’ll ask, “How many more sets do you have?”—a polite way of suggesting they get moving.

At first, they often won’t hear me. I have to repeat myself a few times because they don’t understand due to their earbuds. On the third try, they finally respond with, “Oh,” followed by the number of sets they have left. “I have three more sets.” I’ll say, “Thank you,” and step back, only for them to return to their phone.

This behavior would be surprising if it weren’t so common. For example, I once watched a girl at the ab machine. She was on her phone, and this went on for quite a while. Eventually, she put her phone down, realizing she needed to do a set. She wasn’t being intentionally rude; she was just acting like many others do these days.

And she sets up to do a set but can’t finish it. She has to look down at her phone, now on the ground. There are two identical machines next to each other. On the other machine, a guy is doing even fewer sets because he has two phones. So, you have to let people be the way they are now.

You can’t fix the world. A guy in a Second Amendment T-shirt approached me while I was waiting for one of the machines and said, “Hey, do you want to work in on here?” I was ecstatic that someone had this level of consideration.

And probably someone who voted for Trump, given his Second Amendment T-shirt. So, there are still some genuinely nice people, even those who voted for him.

Sorry for the tangent.

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Rick Rosner, American Comedy Writer, www.rickrosner.org

Scott Douglas Jacobsen, Independent Journalist, www.in-sightpublishing.com

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