The New Woman

Another night at the gym where few came in.  The weather was very nice on Monday, so that may have kept a lot of people out.  Alan was running late again, so Carolyn opened the door.  As I waited for her to to unlock the door, a tall, cheerful woman walked up to us.  "Is Mr. Alan in?" she asked.  "He hasn't made it in as of yet," Carolyn answered.  "This is where the boxing gym is?" she asked.  Carolyn and I confirmed that it was.  The woman asked if I was in the class, and when she found out I was she said,  "Good!  That's encouraging!"

I learned her name was RoShawn, and she has a teenaged daughter who used to come to the kids' boxing program.  Alan had a lot of extra time to work with her because Eric, Jamil and I were the only other people in the gym.  RoShawn watched as I sparred with Jamil.  Alan asked if she wanted to try it, and the next thing I knew, she had put gloves and headgear on and jumped in the ring with Jamil.  She was doing well until she got a charley horse in her leg.  "I probably did too much in one day," she told me, but she promised to come back on Wednesday. 

After she left, Alan marveled how willing RoShawn was to spar.  I was impressed, too.  "I don't get why most girls get scared.  They see other girls in here in the ring when they come in," he commented.  "You know most women aren't encouraged to hit people," I told him.  I'm very glad that my mother felt that women should know how to defend themselves and taught her daughters how to throw punches and kicks.  "But they have to get in to get used to it," Alan said. 

A guy named James came in to inquire about coming to the gym.  I heard him say he had a coach, but the coach didn't want to come up north to work with him.  Alan gave him some information, including telling him about the people in the gym who had been Golden Gloves contenders.  Before James left, I overheard him tell Alan, "Call me 'Professor'."  I guess it was because he wore glasses and looked scholarly.

Barry and the kids in the boxing program were not in the annual Gym Show that took place this past Friday.  I don't know why, since the kids' boxing program usually appears there.  Mary put in a last minute call to me to sing the National Anthem before the festivities began.  I like doing that, and the Gym Show is actually entertaining, so I went.