Recently, there was an experiment done where a corporation wanted to test the alertness of its employees.  They hired a man to pose as a gunshot victim stumbling across the street in the middle of the company campus with fake blood dripping from his torso.  What they found was that people looked warily at him and passed him by.  Cars drove around him.  Nobody stopped and nobody called for help.

Can we really blame people for being cautious though?  In this litigious society, people are getting sued for the most ridiculous things and the possibility of getting sued for trying to help someone else is not uncommon.   While this is an extreme example, what we have fostered in this day and age is a Culture of Apathy.  The prevailing attitude of “it’s not my problem” and “I’m only looking out for me and mine” has become the norm and the existence of Good Samaritans as far fetched as Santa Claus or Easter Bunny.

What I love about the CrossFit Community, though, is the culture that we created.  However paradoxical, CrossFit has drawn together a collection of like-minded individuals that also span all ages, demographics, races, religions.  What binds us is the desire to better ourselves by pushing the bounds of our physical and mental capabilities every day we WOD.

We don’t finish our workouts and walk off, leaving those who haven’t finished on their own.  We stay and cheer.  We motivate and bring each other water.  We go to each others’ family functions, help each other move, and break through the apathy that permeates our community.   Hopefully, this compassion will spread outside the box and we’ll change the world in more ways than lifestyle fitness.

REST DAY 11.22.09