Apparatus

I once asked to use the gym at the fire hall.

I’d been going to the aquatic center gym with my youngest daughter, but there was always a lot of people there, and there was often the typical scenario of several teenage boys texting around the bench, or someone curling dumbells in the squat rack in front of the last available mirror. Plus, there were very few free weights. There were too many for me to lift, but there were still too few, you know? Somewhere there’s a line between fitness center and gym. Sometimes it’s literally on the floor between the squat rack and everything else, but it was nowhere to be seen here, so I started looking around for something I liked better.

There were a few options in Sechelt, but they usually revolved around classes, and instructors, and the like, and that’s not what I wanted either. I basically wanted a home gym where nobody ever went but me, that had all the stuff that I liked to workout with, and that I could go to whenever I wanted, for free. That’s not too much to ask, right?

I didn’t think so, so I asked Fire Chief Bill if I could use the fire hall gym. I had met him through my work at the District of Sechelt, and he was an amiable fellow, chatty and positive, and liked to joke around. He was about to finish up his last of many years of service as a fireman and Chief, to retire and cruise around on his boat. I liked him, still do, so I felt comfortable asking him if my daughter and I could use his gym. He said, “Yeah! Let me show you around.”

 First, Chief Bill showed me the gym, which, as I had suspected, was perfect. Racks, benches, bars, piles of free weights, a couple of machines, and no people. He told me that it got used, but there wasn’t much evidence of that. It turns out everyone was just considerate and tidy, but at that moment I was encouraged by the emptiness. The gym showing turned into a full tour of the entire fire hall, all the trucks, apparatus, and gear in the place. He told me how the call-out system worked, how many calls they had a year, the fund-raising events they did, and the competitions they went to. Chief Bill is a fun guy to hang around with, but I really needed to go, but also I needed him to answer me about the gym first, so I asked him. “So, is it cool if I come and use the gym? I’d be happy to pay a membership fee or something.” Chief Bill said, “Yeah, no. You have to be a member first.”

So that’s how I became a fireman.