Am I An *Hole For This?

First off notice the title asks “for this”, I’m already aware I’m an asshole for other reasons. So here’s the scenario. My gym closes at 11 during the week (which sucks balls imo but whateve it’s not as bad as 8!! on the weekends with is total fucking bullshit). However, it’s right near my my house, all new equipemnt/clean ect. Lately though they’ve been pissing me off in there. If the gym closes at 11 that means 11 not 5 minute to not 10 minutes to, AND NOT BASED ON THE FASTEST FUCKING CLOCK IN THE GYM (ALL OF WHICH ARE AT LEAST 5 MINUTES FAST). Note the time on my cell phone is the same as the time on your cell phone (assuming we’re in the same time zone). SO THAT’S THE REAL FUCKING TIME!

That said, here’s the deal. The gym is closing in either 1/2 and hour or maybe it was 15 minutes. I only lift for about 1 hour 15 minutes to sometimes as little as 45 minutes (so 15 minutes is plenty of time). I’m suppersetting hammerstrength rows, there is almost NOBODY in the gym, I have my notebook, water, and my shirt on the machine, plus 3 45’s on each side. I walk over to the other side of the gym and do some pulldowns, however I’m stopped on the way walking back and asked a few questions that I quickly but politely answered. That’s when I spotted a trainer/desk person (can’t remember what color their shirt was) taking all 45’s off the machine?! I blurted out wtf? But it wasn’t loud and nobody heard me.

Now I don’t know what fucking planet this lady is from but if I saw that someone had left all the plates on the machine WITH their shirt, their water bottle, and their notebook open on the floor with a pen sitting there neatly I’d start my “pemature closing” somewhere else. So I said very nicely or tried my hardest “Excuse me? I was still using this peice of equipment (while loading three 45’s back onto one side), think you could put those 45’s back on?” She responed basically by blowing me off and saying “Oh I’m sorry and walking away”.

SOO I decided to do some traps that day too :slight_smile: Last time I was in the gym he actually said to “Cmon guy gym is closing” after announcing it 1/2 hour till closing, 15 minutes till closing, 10 minutes till closing, and then again 5 minutes till closing!!! (which was actually more like 10 minutes till 11).

I looked right at him and told him “Get the fuck out of my face, jerk off.” He left me alone. ANyway, those two got a little extra gpp cause I left them 18 45’s to put away AND my buddy was doing leg press (after squatting) so that was anoter 10-11.

Now before I get all the “They might have had other stuff to do” or “They want to be out of their at 11” let me just say, I clearly could give a shit less. GET ANOTHER JOB if you don’t like it. I’ve worked MANY jobs that suck major ass retail, construction, office jobs and the same goes. It’s quitting time when the job is done. Not once had I found myself looking at the clock and seeing it was past 11:00 and I was still in the gym. On top of that I almost ALWAYS put away all my weights (I do like to leave a 45 on each side of the bar in the squat rack just to remind people if you don’t use at least that much weight then DON’T USE THE SQUAT RACK). In fact, just earlier in the week I helped the very same retarded bitch derack the shrug machine while I happened to be walking by it during a supperset.

No, you’re not out of line on this.

Talk to the manager or owner or wheover and ifnorm him/her that the clocks are off by at least 5 minutes, or however many it is. And keep going by your cell phone clock.

While you’re at it, inform the management or whoever about the dingbat reracking your weights despite evidence that you were still BUSY with it.

We had one chick at this gym fired for closing AN HOUR before scheduled closing time.

You’re not an asshole.

(Well, you probably are, but not for this specifically.)

You’re paying dues for a place that says it’s open until 11:00. You have the legal right to be there until that time.

Well here’s where I am an asshole. I’ll most likely just lift till it’s 11 (assuming I need to, won’t do it intentionally) and if they give me a hard time I’ll continue to fuck with them. ie leave tons of weight on the bar and a chalky mess on the floor by the squat rack. :slight_smile:

I think it’s safe to say that the workers there are the assholes (gasp, gasp. Could it be?? Unhelpful staff at a commercial gym??). When I was working in the gym, I had the weekend shift, Noon-6 (yeah, we closed at 6 Saturday and Sunday. Not my idea.)

I would wait until the clock in the main room hit 6p.m. (which I always made sure was the “true” time), then I’d see whoever was still training and approach them inbetween sets, never during. I’d say something like “Just so you know, the gym’s closing, so if you could make this your last set or two, I’d appreciate it.” 99.9% of the people were cool about it and I was on my way home by 6:15, no biggie.

There was this one C-rag old hag of a woman that would consistently give me the most disgusted looks, and intentionally do extra sets of adductor work (just to make me yak, I think) after I told her we’re closing. She actually complained to management about me twice, but they knew she was a nutcase.

Anywho, no, I think the fault is with them. Keep doing what you’re doing man. Oh, and about putting the plates away, during my shift, I had a 5-minute rule. If I notice a loaded bar/machine, I’d keep an eye on it for 5 minutes while I walked the floor. If no one used it, then it got unloaded.

[quote]WideGuy wrote:
Well here’s where I am an asshole. I’ll most likely just lift till it’s 11 (assuming I need to, won’t do it intentionally) and if they give me a hard time I’ll continue to fuck with them. ie leave tons of weight on the bar and a chalky mess on the floor by the squat rack. :-)[/quote]

Yeah, that’s a tad jerky :slight_smile:

i don’t suppose this would happen to be LA fitness? that sounds like the closing procedure theyt use. i drives me fucking crazy. every five or so min. they come on the loud speaker and tell you the gym will be closing in x amount of min. then at 12:00 on the dot, they start turning lights off in the equipment areas. you are not an a hole for this. maybe for other things, but not this. unless i am an ahole as well.hmmmmm

You’re not out of line at all. I get the same exact shit at my gym and it INFURIATES me. I then start making a point of taking my sweet-ass time and finishing my last set at exactly 11:00.00 pm.

Even worse, though, the “clean-up crew” gets started about an hour before closing time, so between 10:00 and 11:00 pm I’m CONSTANTLY dodging this damn woman with her vacuum cleaner and cord. I kid you not.

It’s like EVERYWHERE I go in the gym she’s there, or the cord is there, ready to trip me, almost as if she intentionally has it in for me, even though we’ve never communicated because I don’t think she speaks any English. I’ll be doing squats and she’ll be vacuuming RIGHT behind me.

I’ve gotta’ have a word or three with the manager.

What gym do you lift at? I’m at Golds, Paramus.

Wide,
We all know you’re an asshole :slight_smile:

I agree that they are in the wrong, but since you have to co-exist, have you tried talking to them nicely, saying something like “I know you guys close at 11 and I will respect that. But I like to work all the way up to that. I promise to clean up after myself so that you don’t have to stay later to pick up after me, like you have to for others. Just please let me finish my workouts and I’ll be out at 11:00 sharp.”

Sometimes in life, you have to be the one to make the first move, even if the other person might be wrong. I know some on here will consider that weak, but it might get you what you want without causing more animosity. Unfortunately, your actions of leaving a big mess behind may have damaged your credibility with the management, since the employees have something concrete to point at, whereas your evidence is based on your word against theirs.

Anyway, Good luck.

DB

P.S. I lift at home - 24 hours, no waiting, no annoying people other than me.

I definitely see your point of view on this one. I used to belong to a real nice health club, and it was really convenient to have all that nice equipment at your disposal, but that was where it stopped, right there.

I would be working out and someone was always coming up to me for advise or needing a spot, and that would be enough to cause your 40 minute workout, to be a 60 minute or more workout. Its not that I minded helping others, but when I get my roll on, I dont want to be bothered.

The only solution I could come up with was to buy some equipment and stay home, so thats what I did. The problem in todays society is, that people that work at gyms or clubs arent there for their personality, or work ethic, they just want to skate through whatever hours they are supposed to work, and then leave. They could careless whether or not your workout is " everything you had hoped it would be", so do what I did, and get some equipment and stay home, your gains will be alot better without all the stress anyways.

Wideguy,
It’s always nice to meet a fellow “asshole.” I too, am a member of that venerated society. I’d like to workout with you sometime and help you close the place down. Good times!

Mike

tell them if they dont like it to lick your balls. customer service, besides you pay a membership fee every month im sure, and that says you stay there until they close.

As usual you are right, but you handled it wrong. After a while you might notice a pattern.

I feel for you buddy.

Same happens in my gym. I know the place closes at 10pm but the fucking staff get all jittery from 9.30. The last thing i need when i psyching myself up for my last few sets is a bunch of different staff giving me a countdown.

“I know when the places closes and i will leave at closing time. Until then FUCK OFF.”

Boils down to one thing - people are fucking lazy and don’t want to do a full day’s work - as though being the gym dweeb behind the counter at the gym is particularly stressful.

Right or wrong doesn’t matter. If you act and talk like an asshole, you’re going to get treated like one. That goes for whether you work at the gym, or are a member. And just because you pay membership fees doesn’t mean it’s “your gym”. They have the right to close whatever time they want. If you don’t like it you can join another gym, and lick their balls.

Next time someone starts unracking your weights, just smack 'em in the back of the head with your pecker. They’ll stay away after that.

Works every time. :slight_smile:

[quote]WideGuy wrote:
On top of that I almost ALWAYS put away all my weights (I do like to leave a 45 on each side of the bar in the squat rack just to remind people if you don’t use at least that much weight then DON’T USE THE SQUAT RACK). [/quote]

I was totally “Amen-ing” along with your post, until I read that. Now, I understand that you’re a big ass dude, and you can lift all sorts of big ass weight, but come on… you telling me that when I started squatting a measley amount of weight (which I promise you was LESS than 135) I didn’t deserve to be there? You all preach about wanting to see more chicks ‘squat heavy and deep’ but then you pull that shit?

If I saw someone unrack ALL of the weight off a bar I was waiting to use except two 45’s, I’d like to believe I would call you out on it. Forgetting to unrack is one thing, but purposefully leaving it there to assert your superiority is moronic.

To the intent of the post – I don’t think that wanting to get the most out of your time in the gym makes you an asshole.

However, you might be qualifying in other areas.

And take the damn weight off the bar, so that I can bang out my squats however I like.

[quote]NorskGoddess wrote:
WideGuy wrote:
On top of that I almost ALWAYS put away all my weights (I do like to leave a 45 on each side of the bar in the squat rack just to remind people if you don’t use at least that much weight then DON’T USE THE SQUAT RACK).

I was totally “Amen-ing” along with your post, until I read that. Now, I understand that you’re a big ass dude, and you can lift all sorts of big ass weight, but come on… you telling me that when I started squatting a measley amount of weight (which I promise you was LESS than 135) I didn’t deserve to be there? You all preach about wanting to see more chicks ‘squat heavy and deep’ but then you pull that shit?

If I saw someone unrack ALL of the weight off a bar I was waiting to use except two 45’s, I’d like to believe I would call you out on it. Forgetting to unrack is one thing, but purposefully leaving it there to assert your superiority is moronic.

To the intent of the post – I don’t think that wanting to get the most out of your time in the gym makes you an asshole.

However, you might be qualifying in other areas.

And take the damn weight off the bar, so that I can bang out my squats however I like. [/quote]

Thanks for replying to that!

What she said!

First off, commercial gyms suck. They are there for one and only one reason - to make money. They are not there to get you jacked, lean, healthy, etc. They are there to make money. Part of this involves hiring $8/hr help. It’s these kind of douches that they hire that are all pushy to be out of there when it’s closing time, not realizing (or caring) that closing time is just the START of the closing process at most other businesses.

So unless you luck out and find a locally-owned gym that is cool with things like this, you need to learn to deal with it. My suggestion would be to not be THAT GUY that stays until 10:59:59. No one waiting to close a place likes people to pull that shit. Try to be out of there by 10:45. This serves two purposes. The first is that they’ll be up your ass less.

The second is that you won’t look like that dude ordering water with your value meal and demanding they take off the $1.19 for the cost of a real soda. I just don’t think it shows a lot of class to be there at closing time in anything besides a bar.

As far as leaving a plate on the bar…dude…I train with guys squatting and pulling 800+ raw, benching 600+ raw, and we always strip the bar down. Being lazy isn’t being manly.