Occupancy 299

“Nathan, tomorrow morning you have an eye doctor’s appointment at 7:00 in the morning. You’re going to have to drive yourself to it because I have to go to my spinning class at 4:30.”
“But I can’t though, I forgot where the building is, I haven’t been there for so long” I said.
“Well I guess your dad could drive you to my gym at 6:30, you could wait in the lobby until my class is over. Just do some homework or something.”

I hadn’t been to the eye doctors for so long. The last time I went was back in the seventh grade, when I got my contacts; this was also the last time I had my prescription renewed and updated, which is the main reason I went that morning.

I awoke at around 6:20 and hopped into the passenger’s seat. My dad scrutinized me for not eating any breakfast, just like he always does.
“How do you expect to learn anything on an empty stomach? Your mind will be focused on your grumbling stomach!”

I usually don’t eat breakfast; my appetite takes longer to awaken then my body. I’ve been doing it for quite a long time, and my grades in my morning classes don’t reflect an unfocused mind, so he can jabber on all he wants.

He dropped me off in front of my mother’s gym and I took the elevator to the second floor, just like she’d told me. I didn’t know exactly where the lobby was, but I figured it wouldn’t be that hard to find. The elevator doors opened and I was faced with two options, right, or left. I chose left, which regrettably led me in the wrong direction. I walked around a windowed room, windows full of sweaty middle aged women striving to tone their aging bodies and over-the-hill single men hoping to meet younger women. I reached a dead end which led me to believe that the lobby was actually the other way, to the right.

Once I reached the lobby I sat down on a couch and busted out some “tarea de español”, Spanish homework. I had completed a few pages from my workbook when I was distracted. Distracted by a sign on a nearby wall which read, I swear to you: “Maximum Occupancy: 299”. This annoyed me.

Why could this work out facility only hold 299 individuals? What inhibited it to only be able to sustain the mass of this particular amount of people? Would it be chaos if one more individual stepped onto the floor to make it an even 300? Was it a matter of workout machines? Did they only have 299 of them? The manager could at least buy a little step box to put in the corner if that was the case.
The sign maker could have at least lied and just made the sign read: “Maximum Occupancy: 300” just so it wouldn’t cause any frustration. It’s not like anyone’s ever going to come in, count the vast number of sweaty people, and, if there is one, find the 300th person and say. “Sorry sir/ma’am, this facility only holds 299 people; I’m going to have to ask you to leave.”