Messing With My TV Mojo

The senior center's gym is located in a big room divided in half by a low wall between the exercise equipment and a workout floor. The workout floor is used several times a week for yoga, stretching, and schmoozing.

By 9 am, the classes begin, and that's when we have to turn the volume down on the TV. As I read Tehillim (Psalms) during my workout, the TV is just background noise for me, and I will occasionally check out the news. But for Doug, it's something else.

Doug is the exercise cheerleader on the workout side, and is quite engaging. Everyone who works out in the early morning knows him and likes him. He's fun, funny, and quite sweet. He just sweats a lot and leaves a mess on the floor of the treadmill, but I can handle that. I just don't look down.

So when the exercise instructor asked us to turn down the volume on the TV, Doug went ballistic. He raged in a whisper about how we all watch too much TV and we need to turn it off, finishing up his monologue by pulling out the plug.

Okay. Whatever. Later in the day I went to Glatt Market to pick up some chips (okay, I know, I should give up BBQ chips but I can't right now). As I was waiting in line, I watched the TV installed there trying to figure out what CNN was reporting on. When I got to the checker, a young man, I asked him why don't they have subtitles on the TV.

He looks straight at me and says something to the affect that we watch too much TV and it should be shut off. Okay, twice in one day - now that's weird. I looked at him and asked him if his name was Doug, figuring this could all get a lot weirder if his name was Doug too. He appeared shocked by my question, and didn't answer right away. But when he came to his senses, he assured me his name was not Doug.

However, as I am a student of coincidences really being messages from the One Above, I got to thinking about my Netflix subscription.

Nah.