Metaphor for Life’s Grim Futility Has Handy Little Place to Keep Water Bottle
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A piece of exercise equipment based on a device originally used to punish prisoners has a fun little cup holder, Dumb Runner has learned.
True to its origins, the machine, called a treadmill, has a reputation even among its regular users for being dull and tedious to the point of torture—so much so, that over the years it has become the very symbol of pointless, soul-crushing work and, indeed, of the futility of life itself.
It remains unclear why people voluntarily use the device.
“I don’t know, I guess I just find it a handy way to get my cardio in,” said Georgina Jetson, 64, a self-described “fitness nut,” at a local gym. “It’s true that the word treadmill has become synonymous with monotony and ennui, with discomfort and even pain, with the terrible juxtaposition of unceasing struggle and lack of any apparent progress.”
She paused.
“But it’s nice having my water bottle right there on the console.”
