The scariest part of the teaching fitness classes is the obsessive nature of some of the participants. There are always the people who must have the same spot in the class over and over again or else they will not be able to take class. Then there are those who insist on doing more than they can (like lifting too much weight or increasing the difficulty of the cardio machine or adding too much height to a step).

On Friday, I taught two classes in the evening: a body conditioning class and a step class. Exactly in between classes, a fire extinguisher, next to the aerobic studio, fell on the floor, cracked open, and began to spew loads of chemical dust all over. At one point it looked like smoke, albeit yellow, billowing around the gym. The people in the body conditioning class began to file out of the room because of concern for their lives. What did the rest of the gym do? NOTHING!!! People did not get off the treadmills! People kept lifting weights!

The killer part of all this is that the women waiting for the step class, stormed into the aerobics room and began to set up for step. These were the exact words of one of the young ladies who came in for step:

"Are you done because I have to set up for step class?!?!?!??"

Yes, Ladies and Gentlemen. These women did not care that there was chemical dust flying around; mama needed a workout and she was going to get it despite the fact that she would be inhaling chemical extinguisher. So, what did I do? I put my step tape in and began class. As a final note, the class had 40 people in it. Crazy ass people. Just thought I would share that one with you. Night.

  ¶ 11:22 PM