As the world turns!*

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I’m kind of an old person. I like to call it middle age but I’d have to live beyond 100 to be middle aged. The thing about old people is they don’t roll with punches without grumbling. Mostly. My walking group is a good example of life going catawampus.

I walk at an indoor mall. Management opens at 7:15 a.m. for walkers. The earlier stores (hair salons) open at 8 a.m. The rest open at 10 a.m. I walk with a person from my old gym. I am grateful to her for introducing me to this group. She walks early and I join her when I get there at 8.

I have blogged about her before. She is overly chatty and I am pre-coffee so we have our moments. I have learned to phase her out when I’m not in the mood. I have great skills having attended a gazillion business meetings in my life.

Recently she adjusted her schedule so our walking time together would only be 15 minutes instead of 30. I thought I died and gone to heaven. I walk 40 to 45 minutes so I would have time to connect with other walkers or do some deep soul searching meditation (pre-coffee, it wouldn’t be that deep!).

I connected up with the guy she said was a sex maniac. (He’s not and he’s pretty damn close to 80 so no worries.) A long time ago we worked at the same company. We spent the first few times comparing notes on people we knew. No one overlapped. He said I looked familiar. That’s easy when you ride the same elevators day after day. (My story is that my astounding beauty would make an impression on anyone!)

I was happy. Different partners and solo walking kept it interesting. Until the other shoe dropped. The mall put up a notice that going forward it was opening at 8 a.m. for the walkers. That’s 45 minutes later.

There are about 15 walkers on any given day walking the “early shift.” These are older retired people. Feisty older retired people. Most walk from 7:30 to 8:30, then congregate in a group and gossip. I’m not a member of this part of the group. After my walk, Starbucks beckons.

I am not happy about the change because it may mean that my walking partner will walk with me the entire time. She is not happy either. She informed me that if she gets home at 9 a.m. she’s lost her whole morning. (Yeah, I don’t get that either but when you go to bed at 7 p.m. your perspective is different.)

I saw you roll your eyes. These are first world problems for sure and it will iron itself out. Somehow I will disconnect part of the time. My walking partner will adjust her day or shorten her walking time. The world will continue to worry about the corona-virus. The geriatric walking group will continue to discuss their various sex lives. (The age span is 68 to 95. At this point sex is always accompanied by a blue pill or so they say.) This is life in my walking group. Entertaining and always changing.

*The title is in reference to a soap opera that was on TV for decades. My mother watched it every day. It was always full of silly drama. Really silly drama, like my walking group.

 

 

66 thoughts on “As the world turns!*”

  1. I think you might have to search for another indoor mall but if not the weather is changing soon so you can get outside. I walk with my iPhone music and buds in my ear so no one bothers me. When I walked at 6:30-7:00 there was an Asian guy I always tried to avoid because he’d walk with me and constantly talk. Problem is his accent was so thick I could only understand every third or fourth word so I just keep nodding and smiling until I turned to walk home. Exercise shouldn’t be that difficult.

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    • Once in a while I walk with a guy who is hard of hearing and he doesn’t have his aids in for walking. It’s work to talk to him (and I haven’t had my coffee yet). Eventually, he started to bring them along but he only puts them in if he walks with me.

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  2. When I walk, I much prefer the company of my iPod rather than other walkers. Looking forward to spring. I used to be a mall walker, but it was in the afternoon, and the baby stroller traffic slowed me down. I remember “As the World Turns.”

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    • Sometimes I mall walk in the afternoon especially when the weather isn’t great outside. I don’t have an ipod but I should consider. Talking with different people really worked for me as I often walked alone but now with the change in the walking hours, I’ll have to figure out a new normal.

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  3. Hi Kate, Very funny on learning how to phase out at a gazillion meetings. I appreciate the update on the sex maniac. Whew! A non issue! You are right, Kate. This too shall pass. Or, the only constant is change. Great on you for your continued walking!

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  4. I admire your walking schedule even more knowing that you have to tune out the complaints and conversations so early in the morning. Before coffee, that really is asking too much, I think!

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  6. I admire people who are early risers, especially those who can exercise that early, but then I seldom get up before 9:30. I walk alone, with my music on – it’s my meditative reflective thinking time.

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  7. Your ‘partner’ sounds like the kind of person to demands an increase in your speed, enough so she might not be able to keep up (yeah, it’s passive aggressive but it works-you may need to be subtle about…start out gradually…keep looking at your FitBit-maybe she’ll get the idea you’re doing it for health reasons which you are-it keeps you civilized and sane). Those battery drainers have a way of bringing out the devious in me. I don’t want to be outrightly nasty, but when you’re working out, you try to make it as pleasurable as possible. Hopefully the change of opening times will disrupt her enough she’ll stop showing up. And if we’re doing soaps, “like sands through the hourglass, so are the days of our lives.” Good luck.

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    • Today was the first day I went with the “new hours.” They don’t open up a minute sooner. The hair salons have to scramble because they can’t get in until 8 and they open at 8. Sheesh! I only walked 20 minutes because I had an appointment so it was ok but I’m going to have to get devious or maybe just honest. I walk there 3 days and she is there 2 of the 3. I still have one day of peace and quiet. Our weather is warming up so soon I can opt for outdoor walking although I like the friendships at the mall even though I’m not that involved.

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  9. I tried the walking group thing some years ago but nobody was at my pace – and I found I really am NOT “social” when I’m talking – I’m focused and don’t like the chatting stuff. Too bad they’ve changed the hours of availability for you and your group at the Mall though…..! Your reference to “As The World Turns” made me smile though….my Mom was addicted and my Dad called it “As The Worm Turns” just to irritate her!

    Hugs, Pam

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    • The great thing about this group is it’s loose. People walk in groups of two or three. Not a large group trying to keep pace. Some are slower on canes and some whiz around in top speed. Many congregate at the end. I am just interested in my coffee at that point so I don’t join them. It’s a sort of family. If someone doesn’t show up for a couple of days, someone will check on them.

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  12. I’ve never been in a walking group. One of the women at the park where I walk daily is the same age as me (63) and she is an avid roller blader. She sometimes “rolls” along with me as she lives around the block from me and told me she joined a walking group she saw on “Meetups” as she is a widow and was lonely and no “roller bladers” group existed. She said there was so much bickering in the group (who also have a Facebook forum for the group), that they made her feel like an outsider. I’ll send her your way. 🙂

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  13. There’s a walking group here that meet on a Friday around 10, walk various routes around the town and then have lunch in a cafe. Our neighbour has joined as she and her late husband used to walk miles every week. She enjoys it, but finds the pace a little too slow (she’s a pocket rocket). I thought about joining too with the dog, but Maggie can;t walk too long a distance now, and I haven’t really been keyed up enough, but it might come about and we’ll go together. I thought I was a fast walker, but she can knock spots off me!

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    • I enjoy it. I get the exercise done and most days it’s entertaining, especially since I’ve walked with different people. There is one person who occasionally walks with me but she’s too slow. I don’t want to waste my time so I will do a lap or two and then push off and leave her in the dust.

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  14. Funny post. Yet, I also hear the angst. I love to walk. Walking with a friend/friends makes the walk go faster and more fun, usually. But one of my friends who is a GREAT walker, she’s fast, she can go for 90 minutes like I do, she’s never out of breath — well, that last part is a miracle because she never TAKES a breath as she walks and talks. And talks. And talks. Mostly about people I don’t know! So, I kind of tune her out. Yes, I’ll say every 1/4 mile, or Hmmmmm, every other 1/4 mile. It seems to work.
    I don’t watch Soaps but I’m laughing at Ally’s titles above. Ah, we must have a sense of humor to enjoy our, ahem, middle age.

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  16. “I have learned to phase her out when I’m not in the mood. I have great skills having attended a gazillion business meetings in my life.”
    How funny – this is one of those vital skills you need to pick up to get along in life – but it’s not mentioned in college or any orientation session.
    The mall doesn’t realize how they have disrupted life and schedules of so many – It does cause problems. (Great title )

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  17. Catawampus! What a great word.
    Glad to hear the sex maniac is nothing of the sort.
    I have to wonder what sort of behaviour this woman categorizes as indicators of tendencies of maniacal sex. Could you ask her please?😉😜
    Very funny post! Thanks Kate.

    Deb

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    • I did ask why she told me he was a sex maniac and she said it wasn’t him. It was the other guy. There was no other guy when she said it so I’m just going with the flow. Most sex is more talk than action especially at the older ages. Some people surprise you but not most. I just love catawampus.

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  18. I was shocked at the amount of “sex stories” I’ve heard from my mom at her senior community apartment complex. Aren’t they tired?

    Good luck with your chatty friend. Is it possible she’s one of those people who is uncomfortable in the silence? My mom is like that. We have to drive her places now, and she can never let ten seconds go by with silence between us. 🤷‍♀️

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    • Libido (at lead in the head) never seems to go away! 🙂 I don’t think my friend likes it’s quiet either although she was more quiet the other day because of the time change. She was pretty upset about it.

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  19. I would love to have an indoor mall to walk in! I find myself interested in the geriatric walking groups discussion of their sex lives… is that #don’tbeweird? My brain cells are not firing at 8 in the morning. I like to walk at 2 in the afternoon because I know my glass of wine is coming up at 4!

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  20. No indoor malls in my part of the world..
    Oh, how I admire you for going regularly. I walk the dog every morning but on the lookout for bears. Elsa is no protection since she runs home at the slightest unusual noise.

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  21. I tend to be panting at the back rather than chatting when I am out with a walking group. I don’t think our malls are big enough for walking. When I read about mall walking I just thought it was another term for window shopping I did not realise it was an actual activity.

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  25. I like talking to people when I’m on the cross trainer at the gym. It makes the time go faster. But when I’m walking outside? I like the quiet. Luckily, not many walkers at 5:45 AM, and my dogs aren’t talkers.

    Unless they see a squirrel.

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  26. When I read your title, I was immediately taken back to my childhood, Kate. My mother always watched As the World Turns, too. I think when it went off the air it had been the longest running soap opera on television. Maybe once the weather turns, you could walk in your neighborhood or pick up your pace at the mall.

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  28. I guess that this is another example of The Days of Our Lives. Be happy that you’re not going to General Hospital. No doubt being The Young & The Restless folks that you are, you’ll overcome any Dark Shadows that this change in walking routine brings your way.

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