The ghetto gym

As I mentioned last Fri, Spouse & I joined a gym.

We used to belong to a nice gym very close to our house. A family membership cost us $85. per month, with the ability to cancel at any time. When summer arrived we became so active walking around town, walking the boardwalk, and playing beach volleyball that we stopped going to the gym and cancelled our membership. Spouse always claimed he didn't like the gym because it was crowded, but I rarely found that to be the case. I think it was crowded once and he just never forgot about it.

So a couple of weeks ago we joined a different gym, a little farther from our house. A family membership there is $60. per month, with the ability to cancel at any time. I'm surprised that Spouse tolerates this gym because I hate it.

Its located inside a community center and is very dark and dreary. The walls in the circuit training room are painted a mocha color and 3 of the walls have no windows. The walls in the weight training room are painted chocolate brown and there are no windows, just a single glass door. And as if the dark colors and lack of windows weren't bad enough, 1/2 of the ceiling lights don't work! Some of the fluorescent tubes are burnt out or just flicker. The 1st time I went there I flipped on every light switch I could find, to no avail. Many of the switches didn't appear to control anything at all. It is so dark and dreary I find myself feeling depressed just walking up to the building.

There's no lockers or showers. You hang your coat on rolling rack near the entrance, and if you are a heavy sweater you're just out of luck. You'll have to drive home in your wet clothes unless you want to go into the bathroom to change without showering.

The circuit training room is so cramped with machines that some of them are actually out in the hallway. The machines are so close together you can barely walk between them. Its a total fire hazard in my opinion. There are 4 treadmills and none of them have a holder for a water bottle. Its so ghetto!

The parking lot is behind the building and there's no sidewalk leading to the front entrance, so you have to walk on the street (where cars drive) to get to the front entrance to get in. This normally wouldn't be a huge concern except that we've had super cold temperatures and the snow and ice just won't melt. There's a rear door that leads from the building to the parking lot, but they keep it locked at all times, even from inside.

When I arrived on Mon all 4 treadmills were in use by women who knew each other and were gossiping/talking about someone else. When I arrived yesterday I got a treadmill next to a mature (read: ancient) man who tucked his t-shirt into the waistband of his sweatpants which were pulled up just below his armpits. Not a good look. I wanted to use my Tim Gunn voice and say "This disturbs me..." I've probably only seen 3-4 people younger than me at this ghetto gym. The vast majority are 'retired'. One day the flat screen TV was tuned into the conservative, right-wing channel. It just seems like every time I go there something irritates me.

I guess I should feel fortunate to belong to a gym. During periods of unemployment most people reduce or eliminate unnecessary costs like gym memberships. In our case, we stopped going to a personal trainer in lieu of the ghetto gym, but I really don't like it.

I've heard that a new gym will be opening next month that will be open 24 hours and only costs $20. per month, but you have to sign a year's contract and pay a $49. joining fee. When it opens I'm going to take a look at it. I gotta get outta da ghetto!