A Whiter Shade of Palin

OK. Honest to God. I was in the Y this morning. Working out. Minding my own business. Trying to burn middle age flab on the elliptical machine whilst watching ALL the morning shows at the same time.

You know… multitasking.

This old guy hops onto the machine next to me and starts ellipticizing away. OK. Cool. Great.

All of a sudden he turns to me (keep in mind, I had headphones on; he had headphones on), and he says: “I just have to ask you this.”

OK. I am like 28 minutes into my 30 minute all out fat burning aerobathon.

I tilt my head, indicating that I hear him and am waiting.

“I just have to ask you what you think of Sarah Palin.”

Rrrrright. And if I had been a guy next to him, would he have felt compelled to ask me then? I think not.

He did not strike me as a pollster, out asking everyone he happened to see.

“Well…,” I said, not wanting to stop the finale of my workout, “I think McCain would not have picked her if she had been a man.”

The guy looked at me for a moment. He was still working away, too. “You’re probably right. She IS hot!”

Say, whaaaat?

“That’s not what I meant,” I said. “I was referring to her qualities and experience.”

“Mmmmm,” he nodded. “Well, I think she’s feisty. And I like that in a woman!”

Okayyyyyyy.

“I like the way she stands up to the big oil companies,” he continued. “I think she would do a great job as vice president!”

“Well, I certainly hope so,” I said. And oops, guess what? My workout was over.

And I left.