sweaty self disclosure

I love an empty gym. My routine of going to my fitness center at 8:30am Monday, Wednesday, Friday throughout the semester made it almost guaranteed that I could workout alone. I am not anti-social, more self conscious. It wasn't until recently that I stopped turning around if it the fitness center was occupied. On the few occasions that someone is there, I certainly don't speak to them never even making eye contact. Pretend they are not there. I am getting better. Sometimes I force myself to "get over it". With a new unusual schedule, I wasn't able to make it to the fitness center until 1:30 today. About five minutes into my routine, some guy knocked on one of the doors leading into the fitness center that is permanently deadbolted. See, only one of the four doors that accesses the room can actually be accessed. I told him through the glass that he had to go back outside to the other door. Oh no, eye contact. This little exchange made it impossible to avoid further conversation. He asked why there weren't any free weights and if the fitness center on the opposite side of the complex was better. There's another fitness center on the other side of the complex? He then asked how long I had lived in the apartments. When I asked him if he recently moved in, he told me he just moved here from San Diego. I am always interested to hear why someone would leave southern California for Flagstaff. An arrest warrant first came to mind. His answer: "I had to get out of that mess, man. The minorities are taking over." I paused to consider how minorities taking over would in fact make them a majority. Then, I just kinda nodded and luckily he didn't elaborate. This is were I have to analyze what exactly constitutes racism. My instinct tells me it was but my naive side forces me to ask, why would someone be comfortable making these statements to someone they barely know? Then I ask, does having an ace of spades tattoo on your arm symbolize white power? I don't know, I am too lazy to google it.