Normally I wouldn't post a picture of my lunch, but I thought why not. While waiting for Smallsteps to finish school and to present her with a shiny, new bus card, I enjoyed a Poke bowl. It was pretty decent and fit into my "healthy" category. But besides lunch, I was thinking about all the random little things that I observe throughout the day and where they lead my thoughts. As you have likely noticed, my writing tends to lean toward personal experiences, observations and my thoughts on them, which I prefer in contrast to the regurgitation of news. The internet is full of shared regurgitation, but is lacking a lot of soul.
But sometimes, I see something really minor and want to comment on it, just because I find it interesting, or funny. For instance, tonight while I was putting on my gym shoes in the locker room, a young guy came out of the shower to a locker near me and started talking to a couple of his friends. They were probably around 15 or 16 years of age, but the guy with the towel around him was a pretty big boy around the mid section, so to speak - while his two friends were on the fitter side of things. However, it wasn't this that was funny, it was that he wrapped the towel around him like a woman would. You know, around under the armpits and covering the nipples.
I had never seen men do this before I came to Finland, and I have always found it a bit strange. Of course, the majority of people I have seen do it are larger people and the rest generally have it around their waist in the usual way. However, the thing that I find strange with it is that the same guys might have just been naked in the sauna with those he is now standing with, and still feels the need to cover his belly.
I have talked to friends about it, both men and women, and while the men go "to each their own" the women are more critical of it, seeing it as a bit of a turnoff. Is it? I don't know, but I guess it shows a lack of confidence. But of course, there is a lot of hypocrisy in their opinions about it too, since they themselves are often insecure with their bodies and find ways to cover their own perceived flaws.
Should we be insecure about our appearances?
I know that I am insecure about many things these days, and have been all of my life, including the way I look at times. I actually think it is natural and as long as not taken to extremes, can be part of a healthy perspective that keeps us striving to improve, or maintain our health and our social collateral. Looks might not matter in some things, but in other respects, doesn't it speak to a person's ability and willingness to take care of themselves? If looks don't matter, smells shouldn't matter either, right?
Which brings me to another observation from the gym locker room. There is an older guy, probably close to seventy but it is hard to tell with him. He is often at the gym and has some obvious issues walking, like he was very large once upon a time and is now just largish. However, he reeks. I am not just saying if you are near him, because there is a cloud of smell that follows him around to the point that you know if he has been within five meters in the last few minutes. He seems to have a sauna and shower at the gym, but I think it is that he doesn't wash his clothes often enough and they smell like he has been living on the streets for the last decade.
Whose job is it to tell him?
He doesn't speak English, but I share a friendly hi with him when he passes, while holding my breath. But, when it comes to gym etiquette, is it up to the members to let him know that a stench follows him, or is it up to staff. The staff definitely know, but I don't think they are keen to have that kind of conversation either. I have wondered if rather than facing individual stinkers, if it would be better to put a sign or two up as a reminder to wash body and clothes regularly, in the interest of hygiene and the comfort of others. After all, he goes to some of the stretching classes I attend, and the room fills up from the side opposite him first. And, this gym isn't one of those wild west gyms, it is a higher priced chain, so he isn't homeless.
If he was a friend, I would have no trouble mentioning it in joke form to him, but as a stranger and me being a foreigner, it feels it is not my place. It is definitely impacting on other gym goers though, as I can observe it in their faces when he passes or sits next to them. People are pretty down to earth in Finland and at the gym most expect some level of smell, but there must be limits somewhere, and this guy I think has crossed them. Like George Costanza peeing in the gym shower.
This topic maybe has a cultural element to it, because likely in many countries personal hygiene is harder to maintain given access. Still, there are cultural norms so if coming to a country where cleanliness is possible and common, blend in. Smelling bad is not the way anyone should want to stand out. But again, this isn't about having some onions, garlic or a great curry for lunch - it is cleanliness.
There was always a stinky kid at school. They might have not had any control over it at the time, but that didn't stop other kids from teasing them. And perhaps there is a lesson in it somewhere, where if we lose the connection with cultural norms, we are going to be singled out. Being singled out isn't necessarily bad, because a sporting or musical prodigy tends to get singled out also, but if it is for something like hygiene, it serves as a warning for others. But what happens if bad hygiene is normalised? Do more and more people start to let their own hygiene slide? At least, it seems to have happened when it comes to the normalisation of getting fat. And no towel can be lifted high enough to trap the smell.
Personal hygiene is an interesting topic these days in my opinion. A lot of people go to extreme lengths and costs for some appearance factors, but don't seem to take care of the basics. The internet is full of clothes and makeup, gadgets and fitness supplements, but perhaps every few posts there should be an advert reminder to say, "brush your teeth, clean your body, wash your clothes".
Is it part of basic decency?
Maybe that is why it is disappearing.
Taraz
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