Tuesday, November 10, 2009

Welcome to My Sandbox

I have seen some truly amazing behavior in the gym. I guess that since I spend a fair amount of time there it isn't all that surprising that I might experience humanity's worst. I've seen members berate employees for almost no reason. I've seen attendees in classes yell at instructors for schedule changes they knew full well weren't the choice of the instructor. I've seen the usual not cleaning up after yourself.

That last one is the most common. I spend about five minutes after every class that I teach reorganizing because a grown adult can't seem to roll their bike closer to the wall or put their mat in the pile. I find it incredibly frustrating. First, working at the gym is my hobby which means I love it. It does not mean that I am your personal maid. The problem is not only limited to gym members either. The cycle room that I teach in twice a week is often used for boxing training. The trainers have a few standing punching bags along with some that are hanging from the ceiling. Without fail, at least once a week and sometimes twice, they will leave these monstrous standing punching bags in the middle of the room. These suckers are a pain to move. They are filled with water in order to withstand the punching. In order to move them you have to roll them at an angle. It isn't as if I can ignore them either. There is one that looks like a person and I once left it a few feet further from the wall than normal. I nearly squealed when I saw it out of the corner of my eye. This is the kind of behavior that makes me want to put up the kind of signs you see in Dilbert. "Your mother doesn't work here and I'm not your maid."

The cleaning up after yourself issue is annoying but far worse is people who behave as if the class they are attending is all about them. Why do some people refuse to understand that the world doesn't revolve around them? Who raised these idiots? I bet their related to the people who turn left after the light turns red. Last night at the gym I experienced a perfect example of horrible gym behavior. I was teaching a cycle class and a gentleman came late. Not five or ten minutes but half an hour late. This man came in half way through my class. That alone doesn't bother me. (Aside from the fact that he clearly didn't warm up which makes him an idiot unless he had done it outside my field of vision.) The worst behavior came ten minutes before class ended when he leaps from his bike and walked up to me while I was teaching. I'm in the middle of cuing and he asks if he can move the fans around. Of course I say no. I have at least ten regulars who attend both of my classes every week and they are very particular about where the fans are. I offer to put one particular fan right on him. I get to a stopping point in what I'm saying to the greater class, hop off my bike and go to move the fan. As soon as I get back to my bike he leaves. Now I was probably short with him and he might have been offended or maybe my solution wasn't enough. But if he'd come on time and done this it would be no big deal. Just don't walk into a room late, not knowing the situation from the start and cause drama. This follows the same theory that you don't walk into a room speaking loudly in case someone inside is having a conversation.

Manners are required in the gym, in the locker room, at work and hopefully at home. I suppose it would be improper of me to post a sign in my class that says, "Google the sandbox rule."

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