Stay at Home Moms of the World, Unite!
The other day I tried to do a free trial at a fitness facility. I'm not going to say which one because I don't want to disparage the chain by the actions of one of its employees. From my previous post you know that I'm trying to get back into my pre-mommy shape (is this even possible?) and I've been trying different clubs to see which is the best fit for me. I did go to Curves, but the room was so small and the clientele so homogeneous (I know, that's the point) that I just didn't feel like it was the right place for me. So I decided to tackle the next possible place to invest my fitness dollars.
I took the free workout coupon I got in the mail and drove over to the club. I've been to a fair number of health clubs in the past and knew what to expect. I knew someone would show me around and then show me what my options were price wise before I could use the facility. I was happy to do that because I really was interested in joining the club. I was paired up with someone named Chad. One of the first questions he asked me was, "so what do you do?" I'm still not used to answering this question. Instead of being confident in my answer and proudly responding "I'm a housekeeper, day care center teacher, cook, computer operator, laundry machine operator, janitor, facilities manager, van driver, CEO and psychologist," I instead said I wasn't working right now. This led to him commenting,"oh, you have kids, you stay home with them? There's nothing wrong with that. That must be nice for you." From his tone of voice, I could sense his whole attitude shifting. I could tell that he was one of those people who think that stay at home moms sit at home eating bonbons all day.
At the end of the club tour, Chad showed me the price options. I had told him that my husband belonged to a gym at work for $18 a month. He showed me an option for $19.99 a month and told me that was just $1 more than my husband. First of all, that's not $1, that's pretty much $2 and it's not just $2 because I would have to pay $10 per kid to enroll my sons in the kid's club (their childcare program) so it would be $39.99. He wouldn't accept that and kept telling me that the rate he was offering was a one time deal. I said that was fine, but I couldn't join the club without even trying it first. He said, "Why not?" I said I didn't like the fact that the TV in the kid's club had a sign on it, "Must be kept on at all times." He blatantly lied to me, saying that the TV wasn't on all the time and he didn't know why the sign was there. He kept talking to me like I was an idiot and that something must be wrong with me for not agreeing to join. I highly doubt he would have spoken like that to a man or a woman with a "real job." I finally got it that he wouldn't be letting me use the facility that day and walked out.
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