I feel as though a Korean version of the movie Mean Girls is playing out here at Hulk's. I know I am somewhat guilty in participating and I know the fact that I didn't start it all doesn't omit me from being guilty but it's hard not to get defensive. I tell myself to just suck it up and walk away but it's oh so tempting to just drop the strainer on my mouth and blurt out a comeback for extra shock value and pure defence.
As many of our Hulkies know, there are two new female Hulkies who continually rub me the wrong way. They laugh whenever I speak Korean, pointing out what silly mistakes I made, and giggling to each other about it. Whether it is my Korean, some kind of gesture I made, the way I show how to do an exercise, or just whatever, I feel like I am always the butt end of their jokes.
One of them asked me where I lived so I told her I lived here, at the boxing club. I didn't elaborate and explain to her the three private rooms we have but then, when she started laughing at that, the strainer fell off my mouth. "You think that's funny, you wear a skirt when you exercise."
They didn't do my crossfit today because I often try to solely use English when I talk to them, so that they can't tease me about my Korean. When I asked the one why she didn't do my crossfit legs circuit, she said she doesn't want her legs to get so muscular and then she glared down at my legs. "Trust me, you will never get legs like mine. Don't flatter yourself", I thought to myself. I kept my thought to myself and just shook my head but oh the temptation to round robin kick her and then ask her if she still thought muscular legs were so off putting. My legs carried me 42kms in record time on Sunday, what can your legs do...walk you out of here, ya that's what they should do.
I'm not the only one who has been rubbed the wrong way by these two. Three high school girls also have an issue with them. One of the 2 "mean girls" (as I will now refer to them as) left a petition for members to sign, something about lessening the legal punishment someone they know got. I don't know the person involved nor do I know the details so I told her if she can't explain it to me in English than I'm not going to sign. There's not even any Korean details attached to it; it's just a piece of paper with columns for your name and personal info. Well, after she left the club and left it on the counter for others to sign, it mysteriously went away. Snickers thought I took it. I could have and maybe would have but I didn't. I think one of the three high school girls did...and to tell you the truth, I'm not even going to ask them if they did.
I'm trying my hardest to tolerate them because this is a business and members don't pay me to like them, they pay me to train them. And there honestly aren't many members in the almost 2 years that we've been running that I just don't like...but there are some and oddly enough they're all female. The best advice I was once told with dealing with "difficult people" was to focus on their good point. Everyone has a good point. The one member who interrupts everyone and tries to get them to teach him, well, he's only trying his hardest to learn and you can't really be mad at that. He just really wants to learn boxing and learn it from everyone and anyone he can. The joke is he'd ask Pyen Chi is she could answer back in Korean.
Today I thought about this notion, the idea of redirecting my focus and focusing in on their good point. They always are laughing which often feels like they're laughing at me but none the less they are always laughing. Laughing beats them being super serious; it shows they have a funny bone. They laugh a lot and they come everyday, there that's two points -- a funny body and dedication. Now to just focus on those things and to carefully watch my perspective about them. Perspective is key. I can either view it as having to deal with them mocking me every single day or them simply having fun while working out. I choose to believe the second...the first is just going to leave me mental.
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