It was the first couple of weeks of 2009 and I was just starting to pick up running in hopes of finishing a marathon. I went to the gym one day after work and began my workout on the treadmill. It was a quiet day and the only other person in the gym was the guy running on the treadmill next to mine. Straight in front of us was a television currently displaying the evening's news. Top of the headlines for this evening was the conviction of a child molester. Then they flashed the criminal's mug shot on the screen and the most prominent feature of the said criminal was an extremely "lazy eye". I'm talking about an eye that looked like it was going to jump ship the first shot it got. I decided, for whatever reason, that the appearance of this man on the screen was just the icebreaker I needed to start talking to my new running friend. "I can't tell, is he looking at you or is he looking at me?". The guy next to me turned his head to look at me and gazed right past me. Not because he was mad (well, maybe) or didn't see me, but because he too had a lazy eye! What are the chances that the only other person in the room, right next to me had a lazy eye as well? And why did I feel the urge to open up a dialogue with him? I decided to cut my workout short that day to prevent any more needless uncomfortable moments. Next time you find yourself running on a treadmill next to someone at the gym think twice before starting a conversation with them. There is nowhere to run, only the possibility to stumble over your words and end up on the ground humiliated.
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