More on the gym!

Gymmie is my name.. gyming is my game.. and the next few lines talk of my fame. There's this machine that I think Hercules (Heracles, for the Greek friends I don't have) might have worked out on in his 6th task. It involves trying to lift several pieces of uniform stacked weights, behind your back and it apparently helps in developing the pectorals or some such muscle. I say 'apparently', since if done wrongly, it helps in developing a whole lot of other muscles assymetrically, make you seem like a subject from Picasso's paintings on Cubism. Not a bad choice I suspect. You'd be posthumously worth a few million dollars and would get fondled with soft brushes by hot art-renovators a few years later. But that's not the point of this piece of blog..
After a fairly rigorous warm-up session (where I suspect I might have gone into 'heat' mode due to the girl warming up by me), I went down to meet my destiny for the hour - the back-cruncher or.. more subtly put, the bone-breaker! 4 sets of 10 repetitions each said Ishwar. (Read previous blog for intro on Ishwar and why I should not listen to him). I agreed. Rule 1 of the gym - Don't argue with the instructor!
Into the 3rd repetition of the 2nd set I think, a good samaritan with biceps at 20 picked up the locking pin that was fallen on the ground and gave it to me. He mentioned that I had forgotten to plug it in, meaning, I wasn't lifting any of the weight units. I counter-pointed out to him that it wasn't a mistake. With my current strength abilities, all that I could lift was just the equipment handles or a bottle of beer, depending on what was closer to my hand. He failed to comprehend the concept. I simplified it for him - "can't lift any weights". He nodded.. and felt embarassed himself. Rule 2 - In the land of the six-packs, if you are the only one with a spherical presence, compromise on the self-respect and ego parts.
Post the repetitions, I took the pin from the ground and placed it at the bottom most weight in the stack and walked off with the hope that the stranger wouldn't discover the truth.
I am now 15 minutes away from reaching the gym, and am fervently praying that the guy who pointed out the missing pin is not around. After all, self-respect can be compromised, but not on consecutive days. I'm missing gym tomorrow.