discipline

I was in the gym locker room today getting ready to work out when this big, bear of a guy came in. He had obviously been ripped at one time; though now, in his 40s or so, he had put on many pounds. He had the tanned skin and gritty demeanor of someone who's done hard manual labor for years. His words were peppered with vulgarity but he spoke humbly and without condescension. He complained about health troubles - he had recently had a carpal tunnel operation and suffered from pains in his back and arms. He was here to work out despite this. I left the locker room before he did and went about doing whatever for an hour; afterwards, while I was changing, he came in again. He said he needed some discipline - it was a lot easier when he was only seventeen. Now, he just wants to go crash on the couch. Then I left.