I finally broke down and watched the Peloton ad, which has been much maligned for being sexist. I’m usually the Top Gun of my class when it comes to identifying sexist bullshit, but I just can’t get excited about this one.
Husband buys wife a fancy exercise bike. She starts exercising. Changes her life. I guess because he gave it to her, and I guess because she didn’t request it, that implies he wants her to change in some way, and the bike is a not-so-subtle message to get off her ass and ride?
It’s a stretch, even for me, a lifelong feminist. I’m thinking, yay, a present! A bike seems more realistic than a car or diamonds, and no one seems to get upset about those ads. Maybe there’s a minimum.
I’m not seeing dark forces at work here, and now that I know what the fuss is about, I’m moving on. There was a time when I would get fired up about everything, but like Leonard Cohen, I found over the years that cheerfulness kept breaking through.
Still, in the spirit of sexist conspiracy theories, I vote for the Trintellix ad, in which a woman is depressed while dealing with dirty laundry, two small kids, a husband who doesn’t seem to do much, an office job with a bunch of men standing around looking important and a broken copy machine she has to fix.
There’s a pill for that.
Ortho consultation
I’m a bit apprehensive about the upcoming week. I finally get to see an orthopedic specialist on Monday. I broke both my wrists in 2012, and since then I’ve experienced periodic pain. I’ve never been sure if the pain is related to the fractures or carpal tunnel syndrome.
Usually when my wrists act up, I wear braces for a couple of days, and I’m fine. This time, I put a lot of pressure on both wrists attempting push-ups during my new member “fitness evaluation” at the club I joined, and my wrists pretty much hurt all the time now.
The interesting part is that I’ve been playing some of my best golf ever and swimming, so it’s not incapacitating. I’m fearful the doctor will tell me I can’t completely recover without a lot of downtime, meaning no golf. I’ll do what I have to do, and it’s better to deal with it in the winter when golf kind of sucks anyway, but I’m hoping I can play through it.
I definitely don’t want surgery.
Jury Duty
I got a summons for jury duty. I’ve only been summoned once before, and that was in Texas. Move around enough, and it takes them time to find you. In Texas, I went to the jury selection room, where more than a 100 people were being processed. When they finally got to the end, it was down to me and four others. They said we could go home.
Of course, I’m proud to do my civic duty, and it could be interesting, but I dread it just the same. The summons has a little warning about dress code. “Jurors are to dress appropriately as an officer of the court.” Whatever that means. No tank tops, shorts or bare feet, so I’m good on that front.
I’m instructed to call tomorrow to see if my appearance at the court house is confirmed, postponed or canceled. If it’s on, I have to go in first thing Tuesday morning. Ugh. Maybe I should have submitted an excuse:
I’m retired. I can’t start anything at 8:30 a.m., and I no longer have a relationship with appropriate attire. Can I watch it on TV and text you my thoughts?
Ha! Good Luck with Jury Duty. I used to love getting called for jury duty as I was excused from showing up to work that day. Now that I’m retired… let me think about that:)
I know what you mean. This is my time we’re talking about now!
Watch it on tv and text you my thoughts, Hahahaha. They’d get a lot more compliance with jury duty. Maybe they can make it a video game.
Since 2016 I’m finding the need to pace my outrage. I’m still not over Betsy DeVos so I’ve let the Peloton ad go. How much FREE advertising are they getting?
Hi, Kim. Congratulations on pacing your outrage. I aspire to this, and that is part of the reason I can’t get excited about the Peloton ad. Betsy is far more worthy of our communal loathing.
Seems like society has a collective need to be offended these days (the Peloton ad.) I sure have many other things to be concerned with. I am cheerful by nature, so I am on board with Leonard Cohen..and the older I get the more I see the good and decent side of things..I read the news,yes it appalls me, then I have another sepe you soon of coffee and get busy with my day . That said,I plan to volunteer to get people out to vote. Small practical actions make a difference.I can skip all the angst. ANd I can’t fix EVERYTHING. I can get aggravated for a few minutes with the news, but I never let it color my whole day or upset my inner equanimity. I meditate.I exercise. i hang out with good people,art group, book club, card game buddies,husband,son. Life is good. Enjoy your blog! Keep us updated n the wrists!
I love your perspective. Sounds like the perfect balance to me. And good for you on helping to get out the vote. I need to do that.
Another CUP OF COFFEE. geezz…auto correct!!
That’s too bad about your wrists. Hopefully it won’t come to having to give up something you love even for a little while.
I’ve been on a jury three times, which is the number of times I’ve been called. The one I really enjoyed was where the ex-wife of a local TV personality assaulted the current (young and, frankly, kind of trashy) wife. Not sure why the current wife’s lawyer allowed the jury to consist of all middle-aged women. Big mistake. We found the ex-wife not guilty even though she’d done it. The judge mentioned in his instructions that our state has some kind of defense for assault that we happily applied in this case.
That’s a great story. I hope my experience is just as satisfying. I called yesterday, possibly to start today, but the recording said to call again today. I guess it could go on like this all week.
I’ll write more about my wrists, but good news — the doc says to do anything I want.
I don’t think of the Peloton ad as sexist but I have thought they should show “normal” people using it. They make it look like you have to already be in great shape to use it. It doesn’t inspire me to buy one.
Good point. Other than light handheld weights and a simple bench, I’m no longer into home fitness equipment … although I dropped some money on a treadmill and a Nordic track back in the day.