Being “That Guy”

In Bikram today, the newish teacher –– someone I think is intelligent and competent and nice –– super-bizarrely decided to open all three windows and keep them open … even though the temperature had plummeted to 97 degrees.
The standard for a Bikram class is 105 degrees, so her doing this was totally breaking the rules –– especially since this (his first studio in America) usually runs around 110 or even 115 degrees.
And the thing is … I was cold!
We were lying on the floor and I was between the two wide-open windows and a cool 50-something SF breeze was blowing and … I began to question her sanity.
Finally, I had to say something, mouthing “Can I shut this?” when I caught her eye during a Savasana and she said something and I said, “Because it’s FREEZING!”
She did shut the window but kept the other two open but … it was BANANAS.  She was cooling the room when she should have been heating it.
Did she totally “go rogue,” deciding that she was creating her own brand of yoga?    I just don’t know.
And now I’m wondering if I should email the studio owner who’s super-cool about it.  Shouldn’t she know that the new teacher has decided to cool the room off when she should be warming it up?
But do I want to be … THAT GUY?
When I was teaching yoga full-time, there was a complaint about me about once every 18 months.
Someone who hated my personality … or something I said … Or god-knows-what … and it was always infuriating.
It was always petty and dweeby and sad when someone felt inspired enough to write a long –– usually anonymous –– hate letter about me.  [And I think in 8 years there were a grand total of 4.]
And perhaps most tellingly, EVERY one of them began with, “This is my first time at the studio AND … ” IE, they were from STRANGERS.
But I have been to tons of classes at this studio.
I know the drill.
I know –– as does anyone who can access Wikapedia –– that the classroom temperature is supposed to be 105 … but dipping into the low 90s by opening all 3 windows widely is something else entirely.
But do I really want to be That Guy who writes to the studio owner and lets her know what’s going on?
[And on the other hand, I definitely don’t want to be the guy who comes back next Saturday and finds himself chilled by a 50 degree breeze for the last 45 minutes of class.]
So confusing … I wonder … what would Belle do?
[And the answer to that is that she’d leave all the yoga lunatics behind and go swimming in the ocean instead.]
 
 
 
 
 

2 Responses

    1. No –– my pool at the Chinatown YMCA is spectacular and is salt water. [I am doing a poor man’s imitation of Belle, basically, 24/7.]

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