ONE of the advantages of joining the gig economy and working from my apartment has been having the gym in the building almost all to myself during the morning and early-afternoon hours.

With the exception of a few retired elderly residents and the occasional stay-home mom, the exercise room feels deserted until late-afternoon when some of my neighbours are starting to return from work, many of them employed by the federal government, then change their clothes and run downstairs to take a Pilates class or lift weights. Which means that I can run for as long as I want on the treadmill machine without anyone reminding me that I have been on it for more than an hour and insisting that it was not fair to the other residents.

So you could imagine the cultural shock I experienced last week when I showed up in the gym at around 10am and discovered that almost all the exercise machines were being used and that the average age of those who were working out had fallen from 60 to about 30.