Three men

Three men hold each a one-meter long wooden stick. They use them to exercise their injured shoulders. They hold the sticks with both hands and place them up in a vertical position along their backs. Their healthy arms grip the upper ends of the sticks and pull them upwards. Their crippled arms hold the lower ends of the sticks in a most passive way, not exerting any force. The movements end when each injured arm has an angle that makes the corresponding shoulder cry a silent cry of pain. Every man has a different pain threshold, somewhat depending on their age. One is in his twenties, another one in his forties, and the third one in his seventies. They perform the exercises in silence in front of a mirror that runs along a wall of the gym. The place is small. The space left between their feet is about a meter. The movements are carried out in slow-motion. The expressions on their faces remain featureless all along. The men are perfect strangers which meet every second day to share common space in a gym where they choreograph for about fifteen minutes sluggish movements with sticks behind their backs in front of a mirror. Eye contact is rare and when it happens it is promptly concealed.