Rec Story 2: I am such a sweet stalker :-)

So while I have only hinted at it on this blog, it is widely known in my world of real life friends that I was sooo in love with Craig before he even knew what my major was. But what even my real life friends don't know is the extent I went to to be in his presence. Some may refer to this behavior as stalking but since we were friends, I prefer to NOT think of it that way. And I didn't romantically pursue Craig in the sense that I asked him out, or initiated anything, cause I'm old fashioned and don't believe in such things. Like Ruth, who laid herself at Boaz's feet, I simply put myself in situations where I knew he would be. And I happen to know when he went to the gym.

But let me back up first. Our church college group met at the cafeteria for lunch every week. I started going as a way to get more involved at church and after a few weeks, I mentioned it to some others, including Craig, and invited them to come too. Several of them, including Craig, did so, but Craig always left first to go to class.

One week though, he was complaining that he couldn't go to the gym because he had forgotten his socks. This stuck in my mind. Since I didn't have classes in the afternoon on Wednesday, I normally went back to the dorm after lunch to lay on my bed and try to study, which would inevitable turn into a nap until my roommate would come back and we would watch TLC's Trading Spaces. When I heard that Craig went to the gym after class, I figured that maybe I could be a little more productive with my Wednesday afternoons.

I figured Craig left about 15 minutes before everyone else to get to his 1:50-2:40 class. If I left at 2, walked to the gym, and ran for about 30 minutes, I would finish at about 2:40-2:45, just when he should be getting to the gym. So that is what I started to do. And lucky for me, the bike rack was right in front of the window by the treadmills, so I could actually see when he arrived. Of course, the treadmills were facing the wrong direction so I would have to run looking over my shoulder for the last 5 minutes but when I saw him arrive, I would hop off, wipe down the machine, and casually walk out just when he would be walking in. Then we would chat for a minute or two and continue on our way (while he would internally be realizing what an health conscious and athletic person I must be). Oh, my brilliant plan. And, because I wanted to be subtle, I would intentionally miss him some weeks, because if I met him every week it would be soooo obvious.

Looking back, some would be embarrassed by this story. I am not though, because, well, I got him. If I didn't, this story would be sad and pathetic but now it just makes me think about what great self confidence I must have had for I never seemed to think about the fact that maybe I didn't look that great in my old t-shirt and gym shorts, sweaty and red from running.