Contemplation

I'm standing in the locker room at the gym, completely naked, ready to jump in the shower. A maintenance lady who works at the gym walks straight up to me and I get the feeling that, somehow, I'm in trouble.
"You're going into those showers??" she asks, frowning.
"...yeah...at least I thought I was?" I hesitate.
"You can't shower now, there are men working in there!"

I look around the room and no one else is undressed. I'm the only naked person in the locker room. I feel certain that, at this very moment, I must be the only naked person in all of Brooklyn. How come the other women knew there are guys behind that curtain? Nobody told me.

The maintenance lady walks back to the showers and returns to let me know:
"They say that you can shower in the stall next to them. If you want."

I consider this offer for a few seconds. I am in a hurry, I have to be in the city in 3o something minutes. No way I have time to go home and shower. And, will they really peek? Why would they do that? That would be so silly. I'm sure they're decent guys.

But then I notice that all the other women in the locker room - the ones who have all their clothes on - are staring at me, in silence, and I get to my senses. Maybe it would be a weird thing to shower next to the plumbing guys or whoever they are.

"Thanks, maybe next time!" I say and put my dirty gym clothes back on and dart out of there.