Exercising and socializing

Today the topics ranged from Studebakers to Vietnamese restaurants. As always, I learned something.

I enjoy my daily fitness class at the Richmond Jewish Community Center. It's preserving my mobility, strengthening my coordination, improving my balance and making me feel good.

But I enjoy the social aspect that follows just as much.

After our 30 minutes of aerobics, 15 minutes of handweights and 15 minutes of stretching, many of us gather in comfortable chairs adjacent to the café to relax and talk.

About half of us are Jewish, and half are Christian. I've learned a lot about Jewish customs and practices -- especially with the recent Rosh Hashanah, Yom Kippur and Sukkot holidays -- and I've explained a lot about Christian holidays and observances. But those are merely occasional topics of conversation.

More often we talk about restaurants (because we're usually hungry after an hour of exercise), movies (because of which I've seen a few good films I never would have otherwise noticed), good television programs (we're all devoted to "Masterpiece Theater" on Sunday nights), foreign travel (two people from the class are in Istanbul this week) and even politics (Eric Cantor might be Jewish, but he won't find many fans in our group).

It's an eclectic gathering. There's a woman who spent her career teaching Spanish at the University of Richmond and another who spent her career at Columbia University in New York, a man who ran a successful business in Richmond for four decades, a woman who immigrated from England (today the conversation briefly turned to the Wimpy Burgers chain in the U.K.), and a man who grew up in an apartment above his father's candy store in northern New Jersey in the 1930s.

As far as I know, I'm the only Richmond native in the group. I'm the go-to guy on Richmond history and why things are they way they are here. (Lord knows I hope I'm getting it right.)

The class meets at 10:30 Monday through Friday. Most of us are in our 60s and 70s, with a few who are in their 30s and 40s and another few who are in their 80s. Many of us are retired.

Of those of us who socialize after class, I am usually the youngest (I just turned 69).

Which brings me to my point.

In many other social situations, I'm the oldest.

So it's good to be able to socialize with people whose memories go back as far -- and even farther -- than mine.

Among other advantages, it means we don't have to explain what a rumble seat was.