Last March, my family was visiting Southern California. They wanted to check out Venice Beach. My daughter loves to work out as much as I do so I suggested we leave the others at the beach and walk over to the original Gold’s Gym, the Mecca of bodybuilding. For the next hour and a half we lifted weights, toured every inch of the place, stared at all the pictures of the famous bodybuilders on the walls, and generally had a great time. We stopped at the gift shop and bought a couple of things to commemorate the day. I finished paying and looked up and pointed near the entrance.
“It’s Arnold,” I said. Sure enough, it was the Terminator himself. My daughter gasped, “Let’s get a picture!”
By the time we got to him he was talking to two guys who were in the gym but came out to meet him. Standing next to them we overheard their entire conversation. He was encouraging them and complementing them on their strength and size. When they left, my daughter asked for a pic with us.
“Shu-uh”, he replied. We thanked him for his time and he wished us a good day before riding off on his electric bike. He honestly could not have been more gracious or down-to-earth.