Multitasking Gone Wrong

I was at the gym this morning starting my workout as usual. As I got on the treadmill, I noticed a lady that comes to the gym regularly preparing to get on the elliptical trainer. I found this odd because she usually gets on the stationary bikes and has done so religiously for as long as I can remember. This lady has a routine of doing crossword puzzles while she rides the stationary bikes. Two thoughts instantly come to my mind. Number one, I wonder why she is now getting on the elliptical instead of the usual stationary bike. Number two, I wonder how she is going to  do a crossword puzzle while doing the elliptical.

I have always found it somewhat comical how she tries to do the crossword puzzles while exercising but if that is what she enjoys more power to her. Other people in the gym have actually came up and asked the lady why she does the crossword puzzles while exercising. She replies, " I really enjoy doing crossword puzzles and I have no other time through the day to do them except now."

I guess by now you are wondering where I am going with this story so here it is. As the lady was about to step onto the elliptical she hesitates and walks away. A moment later, she comes back with a pencil and her crossword puzzles. She then steps onto the elliptical trainer with the pencil in her right hand. I was interested to see how she was going to pull this one off. Well, being the elliptical simulates skiing she had to use both hands on the machine. She decides she will sit the puzzle book over the display, hold one bar with her left hand, and with the right hand she grips the other bar while holding the pencil with that same hand. As she figured out answers she would attempt to release her hand from the bar only to drop the pencil on the floor every time. Every time that she dropped the pencil she would have to get off of the elliptical to get the pencil. I could tell after the third time she was starting to get aggravated. A couple of minutes later, the lady starts going much faster on the elliptical. With her right hand she is still struggling to hold the pencil and the bar at the same time. She starts really moving her body and she tries to get the max speed on the elliptical. In the process of this she starts leaning forward. Not being used to using the elliptical, as she is leaning forward, she stumbles and almost pokes her eye out with the pencil. At this point she realized defeated in her efforts and decided to get back on the stationary bike as usual. I thought texting and driving was dangerous until I saw this. Lesson learned: Some things are just not meant to be done together even when you just don't have the time to enjoy them otherwise.