Yet Another Reason for Me to Dislike McCain

Last week I joined the Denver JCC Fitness Center. Several of my health care practitioners told me that exercising in water would be good for my arm and back, and the JCC has a big indoor pool. (The three outdoor pools open this Saturday, when the forecast is for a high of 61F. This being Denver, it's currently 81F, with snow and rain forecast for tonight and tomorrow, when the predicted high is 46F.)

So I've been going to the "Arthritis" class, which meets at noon on Monday, Wednesday and Friday. What with my various pains and surgery #7 looming, I've been feeling old lately. But as soon as I join the group in the pool, I feel like The Kid. I'm the only one who doesn't have gray or white hair. (I have a deal with my dog Jenny, who's turning gray for me. Woman's best friend!) There are three 92-year-olds; even the Mon-Wed instructor appears to be in her 70s.

Here's a question you don't often hear in an exercise class: "Are noodles kosher for Passover?" One of the oldest ladies asked that during my first session. I would have thought that by her age she would have known the answer is no--unless you're Sephardic and you eat rice noodles. I shouted the latter across the pool, but I think one of the guys may have disagreed with me. Welcome to the Jewish Community Center.

Today while we were warming up by bicycling our legs, the instructor said something about possible parking problems for class on Friday, as the lecture wouldn't get out till noon. There's noisy equipment in the pool room and it echoes like hell, so it's hard to hear what the instructor says. All around me people were murmuring to their neighbors, "Lecture, what lecture?"

"What lecture?" I hollered.

"John McCain is speaking here Friday morning," she replied.

"John McCain? Here? What for?" Everyone was incredulous. So was I, but also pissed off at the prospect of traffic jams and limited parking preventing me from attending Friday's class.

On my way out, I asked the guy at the reception desk what was going on. He said he'd read online that McCain was having a "town hall" meeting* at the JCC. (Apparently the Robert E. Loup Center doesn't keep its employees in the...um...loop.) We agreed that it would be a cool idea for us to drive up on Friday with big Obama posters on our cars.

When I got home and checked my email, I was greeted with a message from the JCC headlined, "IMPORTANT INFORMATION ABOUT PARKING ON FRIDAY, MAY 2nd." Its penultimate sentence: "If you are planning on coming to the JCC Friday morning, we recommend that you come before 8am or after noon to avoid the crowds."

Oy vey.

*The meeting is on health care, per 7 News. Maybe I'll go and give McCain a piece of my mind. Though I'm sure there'll be plenty from the JCC who'll do the same thing.