From punishment to punchline.

Rayo Ailara
2 min readFeb 28, 2024

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I was at the gym, minding my own business, when I found myself in a staring contest with the treadmill. There it was, sitting innocently in the corner, like it hadn’t just caused millions of people worldwide to question their life choices. As I looked at this contraption of torture, a single thought echoed through my mind: Who on earth came up with the idea of the treadmill?

I imagined some poor soul, probably fed up with the daily grind (pun intended), thinking, “You know what? Life has me running in circles anyway. Why not make it literal?” And so, dun dun dun, the treadmill was born. It’s like they wanted to run away from life’s problems but realized they couldn’t outrun their existential crisis, so they settled for running on the spot instead.

Curiosity got the better of me, so I delved into the dark depths of treadmill history. And let me tell you, I wasn’t disappointed. Turns out, the treadmill’s origins are about as uplifting as a Monday morning alarm clock. Picture this: Victorian-era prisons, where punishment was as creative as it was cruel. Someone must have thought, “Hey, instead of just sitting around, why don’t we make these inmates run in place for hours on end?” So,the treadmill became the go-to penance for society’s misfits.

So there you have it, folks. The treadmill: invented by someone with a twisted sense of humor and a penchant for passive-aggressive exercise equipment. And as I hopped onto that infernal machine, I couldn’t help but wonder… who hurt you, treadmill inventor? Who hurt you?

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Rayo Ailara

A writer and a creator that loves bringing emotions to life through words.