Postcards: Distractions, Selloff Worries, and Republic Speak (The Week Ahead)

Dear Fellow Expat:

I used a weight rowing machine yesterday—it lifts your body as you pull more weight for your back. It’s difficult…

So, here I am on my ninth rep in the cycle when I look to my right and see a man working out and doing shoulder press exercises with free weights…

And he’s wearing… flip flops.

Now, I can take the “bros,” carrying gallon water jugs. They’ve cut off the sleeves… and the entire side of the shirt.

And there’s no shortage of beautiful women - taking selfies in what’s a Lululemon fashion show.

But this guy?

Come on.

How do you wear flip-flops in a gym?

How do you use free weights and do shoulder press exercises without slipping at some point, blowing out a flip-flip, and Jimmy Buffetting yourself headfirst into the weight rack?

It’s like he missed the entire customer sports revolution by Nike and its imitators for the last 40 years and just said, “I like when the air conditioning hits my feet…”

It’s hard to unsee that.

It’s hard to go on.

This nearly sank my ent…