Saturday Morning Drama

It seems that as spinning classes gain popularity at my gym, the drama is heightened, and I never quite know what the class will be like on Saturday morning. Because the classes are busy and because there are a set number of bikes, everyone who wishes to participate in the class has to sign in on a sheet they keep at the front desk prior to class. If you don't sign in, and the class fills, you're SOL -- it happened to me a few weeks ago.

So, this morning, right at 10 when the class was starting, a woman walks in, says she signed in, but there aren't any bikes available. The instructor asks if everyone signed in, and everyone says "yes" but one woman says "what?" We inform her that you have to sign in in order to secure a bike, and she says, "But I was here at 9:30." A woman next to her says that it doesn't matter what time you come in, what matters is that you sign in and reserve a seat. The instructor tells her that's the policy; it's posted at the front desk, he can't make any exceptions, and he tells her she has to give up her claimed bike.

Well, then it gets interesting. This lady starts yelling at the woman who came in, "Fine! You can have the bike since you arrived at 10 and I have been here since 9:30 waiting for this class! Fine!" The woman who was next to her who had explained the sign in process says, "There's no need to yell." And the angry woman yells: "I'm not yelling! I'm just getting loud!" By this time, the whole class is involved, and we're trying to tell her that it's the gym's rules, and that it's fair to give up her bike, and that the next time she comes she'll know, etc. She gets up off the bike, grabs her stuff, and as she's storming out of the room, she yells: "I hope you enjoy your fuckin' class!" And then she turned and went out the door (shutting the lights out on her way).

The instructor looked baffled and the rest of us were kinda laughing and staring in disbelief when she burst back through the door, and yells: "You people are the rudest epople I've ever encountered; this gym is full of bastards!" And then she slams the door shut again and was gone. I suspect she marched up to the front desk and cancelled her membership.

But good lord people, spinning is a good class -- burn lots of calories, get a great workout -- but it's not going to save your soul. So why do we have to have so much drama over it?