Catharsis
Written by Fletcher “Butchwax” Ferguson
I have had the pleasure of meeting a large number of truly unique individuals in my short time on this earth. As a personal trainer I learned very quickly that we are all so very different and excepting a person’s distinctive personality quirks comes with success in the service industry. The first three customers that came to my fitness studio were gay men. When the third gay male walked in dressed in flaming gay attire I immediately pointed him towards the door. Big mistake as I soon realized gay folks have money too and if you just take time to get to know them, their sexual orientation has absolutely nothing to do with why they sought fitness advice. Once this was realized I overcame my homo-phobia and over the course of eighteen years developed professional relationships with both gay and lesbian clients some of which I could easily label as good friends.
Aside from getting to know great people, one of the most satisfying aspects of the field of personal training was helping a client reach their fitness goals. Helping diabetics reduce or even eliminate their insulin use or helping a stroke victim regain use of their arm and walk again are achievements that surpass all the athletic achievements by a long shot. One young boy whom had Hydro Encephalitis as a baby was probably my greatest challenge and the most rewarding relationship I have ever experienced. The young man at the age of eleven walked with a severe gimp and had a nearly useless left arm that he carried drawn up toward his chest. What made his case so difficult was his endocrine system was compromised and he had a very difficult time sweating which drove him crazy with over stimulated surface nerve activity that caused him to itch like he had a bad case of poison ivy. His Dad had been a university level back up quarterback to a fellow that is now in the NFL Hall of Fame. Pretty tough for a kid to be like Dad. His Dad was great however and gave his son nothing but praise for his effort at overcoming this affliction. When the young man was eighteen he could bench his weight for fifteen, run five miles with out a hitch and could sweat with the best of them. He went on to enroll in the Air Force Academy where I understand he flies drones. What a great achievement for him and his family and an extremely satisfying, rewarding result for me.
One day I had the pleasure of meeting a gentleman who was quite disparate from most of my clients. Roger was a classic example of a guy tired of getting sand kicked in his face by all the bullies of the world. He was a very small man weighing in at maybe a buck and a dime. Standing only about 5’6’ he not only was weak and frail but had very poor self esteem. Roger however, was a very pleasant man with a spark in his heart and gleam in his eye. He said all he wanted was to be strong enough to left the heavy luggage in and out of the trunk of the limo he drove but what he really needed was a shot of confidence and a self esteem boost. He worked his ass off in the gym. He ate like I told him and did all the little things necessary to gain muscle weight. Two years later Roger weighed in at 132lbs of lean muscle. He could do things with his body he never thought possible. The guy walked with confidence and carried himself with great pride.
One day Roger came in the gym and informed me that this would be his last workout for a while has he had either been fired as a limo driver or quit, he wasn’t sure which. When I asked what happened he told me. For several years he had taken a older woman to the airport once a month and would pick her up when she returned. Roger described her as a bitter old crabby bitch who verbally abused him at every turn. During the most recent trip she mouthed off to Roger one too many times and Roger slammed on the brakes of the limo right in the middle of the bridge that crossed the Missouri river and promptly tossed her over packed high price designer luggage into the Missouri river. Roger was quite confident of himself now and nobody was ever going to kick sand in his face again.
I got a degree of catharsis from Roger’s story as I had heard the stories of this woman’s verbal abuse many, many times. Wish I had been there to see her face, she also happened to have been a one time client of mine and had verbally abused me a time or two. Good for Roger.
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