30 Seconds

My gym membership is such that I can go on weekdays, from 7pm until close, and on Saturdays from 5pm. This works out well for me, as I rarely ever leave work earlier than 6pm.

It doesn't take very long for me to get to my gym from work, so on one very rare occasion where I DID leave work around 6pm and was planning on gymming it, without taking note of the time, I blipped my card at the gym's front desk and continued walking towards the changing rooms.

Through my headphones, I heard the panicked cry of "MISS!!!!!" and turned around, unplugging one ear.

"I'm terribly sorry, but your membership is for entry starting from 7pm," the young woman said breathlessly. "It's now 6.55pm, would you mind waiting 5 minutes?"

So I did.

Although slightly miffed, "Fairy nuff," I thought.. Perhaps they think that if they let me in 5 minutes early, I may try to sneak in earlier next time. And then who KNOWS when the madness would end?

Today however, the ability of many people in Japan to just be unable to break out of Robot Mode, once again reared its stupid little head.

Aware of my previous faux pas with the timing, I did a spot of shopping before going into the gym. My watch said 6.59... and then 7pm as I walked towards the counter, slowly. Pausing between steps.

As I approached, today's Young Woman Behind the Desk quickly pulled the clock on the reception desk towards her to check its jumbo-sized digits.

It was 18:59:29.

I smiled and said, "30 seconds is all right, right?" and blipped my card on the scanner.

To my dismay, amusement and annoyance, the woman said, "I'm terribly sorry, but could you please wait until 7pm?"

THIRTY.

EFFIN.

SECONDS.

Perhaps she had been berated by a superior before for letting members in before their scheduled time. Whatever the case, I thought it was incredibly ridiculous.

With a look of disbelief on my face, I stepped back, away from the counter, stretching my hand longlingly towards the changing room.

I happened to glance left and my eyes met with that of a woman probably in her 40s. Evidently she had been sitting on the chairs near the entrance, waiting for 7pm to tick on by. She tilted her head to one side and smiled at me in an unexpectedly adorable way, as if to say "Yeah, stupid eh?".

In my flustered state, I thought she was a friend of mine, but then I realised it wasn't. So who knows what kind of weird familiar, friendly-but-then-taken-aback, embarrassed expression I had on my face.

I pay around 8,000 yen a month for this membership people. You can forget the Domo Arigato, Mr. Robotto.