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The spin class at our gym fills up quick. In order to track how many people attend the class and to make sure you can save a spot, they hand out little blue cards with numbers on them. People will then take those cards and place them on a bike to essentially "save" that bike for class. The gym policy is that you MUST grab a card in order to participate in a class. One minor issue with this is that for new people, there is really no way of knowing. See, when you come into the gym, they simply scan your membership card and tell you to have a great workout. You must ask them for a card if you'll be attending a class. Now, back to the lady.
As I said, this lady was sitting in the front corner of the room when me and Mandi entered it and it was obvious that she had not just gotten there. The class was already close to capacity so Mandi and I were forced to sit across from each other. Mind you, we're always there at least 15 minutes before the class starts. Anyway, just as class was about to start, a different woman comes in carrying the numbered card "40". There are only 40 bikes available in the class. There was a problem, there wasn't an empty seat in the house. Just then, as the instructor was collecting the little blue numbered cards, he discovered that the woman in the front corner, the one who had been sitting there for at least 20 minutes, didn't have a card.
Then Ms. #40 who had come into the class with about 1 minute to spare walked over to the instructor (who was by corner gal at this time) to inform him that "this woman is in my seat". I couldn't believe it. Then, yet another surprise. The instructors kicked the woman out of the class because she didn't have a little blue card. Seriously?!?!? Was that the best solution they could come up with?
I was seriously shaken by what I had just seen. I couldn't believe Ms. #40 had the audacity to just stand there as the other woman got off the bike and left. Everything in me wanted to confront anybody and everybody in the situation. But to my regret, I didn't. I had that little voice saying "it's their club and they have rules, don't ruffle any feathers". I looked across to Mandi and signaled that I would give up my card and just go hit the treadmill instead, but I didn't and I kept my jerk butt on the seat. I didn't want Mandi to feel obligated to leave, or guilty, about me giving up my seat. I knew that it would not sit well with her because she knows how much I enjoy spin class. The bottom line though is that I did nothing, and I immediately regretted it. I could barely concentrate for the first handful of songs in class.
Anywho, hopefully I told the story in such a way that it made sense. I was hoping to get some feedback from you guys. What do you think you would have done in that situation? And don't worry about calling me out for not being a gentleman - I'll be right along side with you.
