Today I went back to the MAC for the first time since around March or April of ’09. The last time I was there, I went for a late night workout, and the woman behind my desk confiscated my card because it had expired in 2004. Nobody had mentioned it for five years, so I thought it wasn’t a big deal. She was very adamant that it was a big deal, and wouldn’t let me keep my card.
Until about a week ago, I was under the impression that I was no longer a member of the MAC, so I had stopped worrying about it. Then I saw a bill in the mail and found out that my parents had continued paying for my membership even when I said I didn’t want to be a member anymore. Luckily I was just starting to get fed up with belonging to only one gym (even though it has multiple locations), so I decided to head over to the MAC to at least get a new card. I walked in, went to the back desk, and this is what happened:
-I need a new card.
-Okay, what’s your ID number… blah blah blah… you lost your old one? That’s going to be twenty dollars.
-Really? Because last time I was here you guys just took my old card from me, I didn’t lose it.
-We took it? (extremely skeptical look)
-Yeah. The lady said it was a junior card and I had to get a new one. Do I have to pay for a new card when somebody takes the card I already have?
-But your old picture has a blue background. That’s for senior members.
-Well I was a scholar athlete. And the card expired in 2004 but nobody ever cared so I just kept using it.
-Yeah but junior members have yellow backgrounds.
-Okay…
-And the expiration date is right on the card.
-Okay…
-And you’re 23 now.
-Yeah.
Finally she let me get a new card without paying. She definitely didn’t believe my super suspicious story that anyone at the MAC would have ever taken my card. I’m not really privy to their rules about cards, but apparently having a blue background and an expiration date on the card and being 23 all mean something that I was not picking up on. I think she felt like if she just kept pulling out non sequiturs I would eventually get confused and pay the money. But I also think that they must have a policy not to argue about things like this with members, because she looked like she really wanted to.
Once I made it into the actual gym, things weren’t very exciting. I saw tons of people I vaguely recognized and felt appropriately uncomfortable. I was also feeling mildly disgruntled after my initial imbroglio with the card-giving/not-giving lady. I did like that there are cubbies for my things right in the workout areas, and that the treadmills have fans on them. I also enjoy the free parking, which was the primary reason I went there tonight. Despite all these perks, I had to cut my run short, because I had to poop really bad and afterward I didn’t feel like getting back on the treadmill (which all have 30 minute limits, as opposed to the 60 minute limit at 24h). In my opinion, running when I don’t have to poop has the potential to be one of the best feelings in the world. On the other hand, running when I do have to poop can be one of the worst feelings in the world, enough to ruin any good run. I’m sure I’ll touch more on that later though.
Miles run this week: 20.25
Miles run in 2010: 45.25
2 Comments
Murphy explained to me the whole MAC gym thing and now i understand your post much better. We have an American-to-Australian translation thing going on (there are more differences than you think!)
Oh good – you just need to know that the MAC is some ridiculous club with creepy rules that don’t make any sense. I’m sure Murphy told you about that.