Work Out

As I have mentioned before, I belong to a delightful gym. Seriously, I love the place. Just walking into it makes me feel good. The kids love it too. They are running from the minute their feet touch the ground as I get them out the truck till they hit the child center doors. We go daily, even when I am not feeling well. We'll go, just so I can get a break.
However, lately there has been a gentleman (I use the term loosely) who has also been arriving at the same time I have. Which wouldn't be a big deal; there are a few 3 o'clock regulars other than myself who are quite unremarkable. This ... gentleman is quite disturbing however. My routine is: cardio, weights, core. I'll either bike, run, elliptical, row or do stairs for my cardio- all of which are in one big area. This, up to this point has been totally fine, no big deal. For the past couple of weeks, however, this gentleman has been coming at the same time I have been. I have no problems with people huffing and puffing while they work out. Especially on the cardio. There is no escaping the sounds he is making as he strides along on the elliptical. I'm not a prude, but this makes me seriously uncomfortable. He sounds like he is in the midst of a sexual encounter. I'm not entirely sure he's not doing it on purpose because when I have looked over at him in surprise, he has given me a wide grin.
Therefore, I have started altering our pattern. When we go pick up Ms. R at 2:20, I bring along her snack and go immediately to the gym from there. This means I can generally get almost 30 minutes of cardio in before the grunter comes. Icky.
Another, not so great thing that has started happening with my gym is there has been an influx of not so desirable patrons. They have been giving away deals and discounts for a random amount of time to try to boost clientele. Which, on the whole, I am not opposed to at all. I understand they have to keep numbers up. I wouldn't mind the influx if it didn't mean they were permitting people that have never considered membership at this gym before because of its lofty monthly fees (they are the highest in the area) entrance because they are giving discounts for a duration of time.
I have been a member of this particular gym for at least 3 years. I have never in that time ever seen vandalism, trash strewn around, been offended by a remark or felt that some people just shouldn't be there. Since summer when they started this big push for more clientele, this has changed. The cherry wood surfaces in the locker room have been scratched on with keys, the glass door to the locker room was smashed, always trash around the pool the lifeguards are picking up, machines left sweaty and not wiped down ...
Yesterday, I found the end of my patience rope so far as the new patrons were concerned. As I was getting ready to go clean up I noticed a group of teenage girls in the locker room. It was hard not to notice them, as they were laughing loudly, making high pitched screeching sounds, throwing around towels, generally being loud and annoying. Inside it really pissed me off that they were being so disruptive, but did not feel it was my place to say anything. Besides, there were more of them ... and there is always that fear of the mob beating you up. Or is that just me? Anyway, after lying in the steam room for a few minutes, still hearing them through the walls, I gave up on relaxing and went to have a shower. As I was rinsing off the curtain went flying open. At first I thought it was a mistake, like the girl possibly didn't realize closed curtains meant the stall was occupied. But then she whipped the curtain closed again and I heard her yell, "Oh my G*#, what a fat cow!" followed by a chorus of laughter. I was furious! I seriously wanted to march out there and slap that little ... (insert swear word here).
I stormed down to member services (after I got dressed of course) and exploded with anger all over them. I didn't yell at them per say, but I surely did rant. After I explained what happened, I ranted about the poor quality the gym has been lately, disappointment in the state of the locker room, how I've been a member for such and such long and have never been so disgusted by the club before, demanded some sort of satisfaction. The girls were brought to member services, asked about the incident. All of them had little smirks on their faces, like they thought it was sooo funny. Once again, I felt like inflicting bodily harm. They were asked to relinquish their membership cards and escorted out of the club. I still don't feel good about it all, but I guess that was all the club could do.
I think maybe I could have let it go if the girl hadn't yelled what she did. But for someone who is insecure about how they look, to have someone else look at them and yell such a rude comment ... it was hard on my already low self esteem. Even if it was just a stupid teenage girl. Takes me back to high school. Never a good thing.