Fitness
My new job as manager of a health and fitness center has thrust me into the corporate soup of a conservative, loop-based insurance company. I’ve seen firsthand how corporate expectations and the dutiful foot soldiers who carry them out make perfect marks for the dark humor and commiseration of Office Space, Dilbert and Glengarry Glenn Ross.
Behavior, communication, dress and guidelines for the same abound. The vibe created is one I can best describe as utterly unnatural. If we are 3,000 individuals when we walk in the door, we become one personality as we swipe our security badge and enter the abyss. On Monday morning, the anguish on the el is palpable, especially when compared to the loose and free spirit of Friday afternoons. Creativity is squelched and individualism is discouraged, if only because falling in line is preferred. Those who stand up are met with awkward elevator rides at best, outright scoffs at worst. You conceal your personality as you enter and become predictable in every way, down to your beige clothes and closed-toe shoes. With hose, of course.
The toll of disconnecting like this can be grave. At the fitness center, we often see the casualties of this life clinically and spiritually. We become like a MASH unit for the employees. Through exercise, group classes, seminars and (hopefully) a space for people to be themselves, take off their armor, emote, and enjoy, we transfuse, apply balm and care for their wounded bodies and spirits.
In my short time here, I’ve inquired of a few kindred spirits how they navigate the rigors of corporate life. Without exception they say it’s a daily battle, two steps forward, and one step back. One friend, a recent retiree, spoke of how he no longer overeats. He used to eat “because it was lunch” and “until I was stuffed” because, he feels, corporate life had him so out of touch with himself. His experience is not uncommon at all. Now that I am on the front lines, I have found it increasingly difficult to maintain my own balance, let alone be the lightening rod for a change of culture I’m charged with initiating. But I do believe I am here for this very reason.
After a particularly brutal week, I was riding in to work down Madison on a Monday morning and was held up at the light at Hamlin where one of my new casual acquaintances sells newspapers. I’d missed him over the July 4th holiday as he wasn’t at his usual post all week. We usually just exchange friendly banter about weather, me riding, him selling many papers etc. This day, though, I asked him where he’d been and for a second our eyes locked. He went on to explain he went to visit family ? the light changed, I bid him good day and I wept openly for two blocks. My soul was alive again and in that instant I remembered (again) what my brutal week had me forget to connect and care. These two simple things help to lighten burdens as well as let people know they matter. I may be able to teach the city’s best spin class, but the truth is, these are my real tools.
CONTACT: franscottfitness@hotmail.com