MY HUSBAND WORKS AT EQUINOX.

So, there's this guy who used to work for the phone company and decided to quit and follow his passion for acting. He became an actor and steadily built his resume over a span of 20 years. Then he felt a pull to relocate to the mecca of acting opportunity, Los Angeles. During a span of almost a decade, he struggled with the balance of family, work, and passion. He felt as though one area could not thrive without the other one suffering. And then, as he usually did, he turned to fitness to relieve some stress and provide some clarity. His journey lead him to a fitness club called Equinox, where he trained, and studied, and trained some more. Slowly he built up a loyal clientele and real connections with people. On my last visit to the club, what should have been an hour workout, became a 2 hour tour. I looked on as he dipped in and out of conversations, often introducing me to different co-workers and clients. It was a dance that involved carefully curated hand shakes and high fives, each customized to fit each bond shared. It was lovely.

This week the news broke that Equinox owner, billionaire Stephen Ross, is planning a fundraiser for President Donald Trump on Friday in Southampton, N.Y.  Things got interesting. The night the news broke, I laid restless in bed.  I checked twitter updates on and off until the sun came up, wondering how my very liberal husband would navigate his day. To my surprise, he was not freaking out, he didn't furrow his brow or even seem to be interested in talking about it. I checked in that day with texts like "you ok?" "lmk if you need to talk" "I know this must be hard, I love you". He responded with single words which reassured me that he was fine. When he came home he told me the front desk turned into the front line as they were busy fielding a higher volume of calls, while trainers and clients continued on with their fitness routines.

An acquaintance of his reached out with a question. "What are you going to do?". I'll be honest, I had the same question. To which he responded "Keep working". What did we expect him to do? Well, I'd be lying if I didn't tell you I visualized my very liberal husband terminating his employment with Equinox all while holding a bullhorn and giant sign that read "#boycottequinox", but he didn't.  Our family relies on that income to survive, and quitting would cause turmoil in our lives. My question to you is, what would you do? Do you think this decision makes us hypocrites? Do you think this decision means we support the Trump movement? Do you think this decision means we are ok with families being ripped apart?

I'm not sure I want to hear the answers to my above questions, but I do want to share that even though my husband was pretty convincing that he was doing ok with all of it. I'm listening to him cough and sniffle as I write. His body forced him to leave work early yesterday and call in sick today.  

Thanks for reading,

Nikki Pin It