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mrmons
May 12, 2004, 4:22 PM
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A friend and I go to the Gym in town for an afternoon of fun. We get in there and stand at the desk for 26 minutes (I timed it) waiting for someone to come over. We spent our time watching some kids boulder (or try to boulder). Finally, the kid we were watching walks behind the counter and stands there looking at me. :?
"Well, " I said. "I can't believe I have to say this but we'd like to climb." Like what else am I there for with my harness and shoes hanging over my shoulder!?!
His response... "Okay, umm... sure. I just need to see your belay cards."
"WHAT!?! :shock: What in the wide world of sports is a belay card?"
"Well, umm... you need them to climb here."
"I've never heard of it. How do we get one?"
"Well, there's no one to teach you how to belay now, so you can't get one."
"So, even though I've been here climbing a couple dozen times and I've been climbing stone for a few years, I can't climb here because I don't have a "belay card," is that right?"
"Umm... well, yeah, I guess so."
Now I know that gyms must protect themselves but the kid tells me that this is not a new thing and that the first time I came, I should have been given one. I wasn't and now I have to pay for a class to get a "belay card" to climb at this gym. This irked me and my friend to no end.
Just had to get this out.
Mr. Mons :twisted:
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todd_tomorrow
May 12, 2004, 4:48 PM
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Gyms are anti-spirit-of-climbing in every respect. You shouldn't go to them.
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adventureman
May 12, 2004, 4:54 PM
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In reply to: Gyms are anti-spirit-of-climbing in every respect. You shouldn't go to them.
Not true, not all gyms are like that. The gym I climb at is very much in the spirit of climbing; all the people who work there climb real rock all the time when they're not in the gym (and the weather doesn't suck). Besides, gyms are a great training tool.
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jipstyle
May 12, 2004, 4:56 PM
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Once, when I was in Starbucks, the employees were rude and didn't make my coffee properly.
I guess cafes are evil too, huh?
Mons: I know how you feel. I used to manage a gym, and herding our teenage employees was, without a doubt, the hardest part. Having said that ... I'd never have allowed someone like the person you described to continue working for us. I suggest you find another gym. :)
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fiend
May 12, 2004, 5:05 PM
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Once I heard this story about a guy that worked at a Starbucks and made some dude talking on his cellphone go to the back of the line. Talk about rude employees.
:lol:
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edge
May 12, 2004, 5:12 PM
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In reply to: Once I heard this story about a guy that worked at a Starbucks and made some dude talking on his cellphone go to the back of the line. Talk about rude employees. :lol:
That man deserves a raise!
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jipstyle
May 12, 2004, 5:14 PM
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:lol:
They were probably lawyers. Lawyers suck. :D
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leaverbiner
May 12, 2004, 5:29 PM
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todd_tomorrow
May 12, 2004, 5:30 PM
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In reply to: Once, when I was in Starbucks, the employees were rude and didn't make my coffee properly. I guess cafes are evil too, huh?:)
Well, Starbuck's...
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bustloose
May 12, 2004, 5:34 PM
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dude, if you stood behind the desk for '26 minutes' without attempting to get the attention of anyone who might work there, that would be YOUR fault.. put an effort in for god's sake.
and rules are rules. if some kid at the gym i managed let you climb without a 'belay card' i would fire him on the spot. he's just a kid working the desk, he has NO idea if you have ever belayed before, no matter what you say.
i was at a gym in a different city and although a certified instructor and a climber with 10 years experience all over the world, i was unable to lead because there were no lead testers working that afternoon. deal with it.
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jipstyle
May 12, 2004, 5:42 PM
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In reply to: dude, if you stood behind the desk for '26 minutes' without attempting to get the attention of anyone who might work there, that would be YOUR fault.. put an effort in for god's sake.
Employees are ignoring a customer so they can climb and you blame the customer?
Wow. That's ...
Wow.
In reply to: and rules are rules. if some kid at the gym i managed let you climb without a 'belay card' i would fire him on the spot. he's just a kid working the desk, he has NO idea if you have ever belayed before, no matter what you say.
True. The gym should have had someone qualified to give a belay test. Better yes, the gym should have a record of who has climbed ... and belayed ... in the past so these kinds of things don't happen.
Obviously, this gym is horribly managed ... but if the employee doesn't have the authority to test someone's ability to belay, he should turn them away.
Making them wait 26 minutes, though ... I'd fire the punk for that.
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mazzystr
May 12, 2004, 5:50 PM
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In reply to: Not true, not all gyms are like that. The gym I climb at is very much in the spirit of climbing; all the people who work there climb real rock all the time when they're not in the gym (and the weather doesn't suck). Besides, gyms are a great training tool.
i agree totally. the experience and knowledge i've learned from other gym climbers has been invaluable. plus i have alot of fun talking with everyone & bitching at employees *grins* (all in good fun). my weekends are spent at the nearest area which is 500miles north east south and 2500miles west. yes, i am in michigan :P
mrmons...whyd you even go to the gym in the first place if you have yrs of rock climbing under your belt. go outside for an afternoon of fun and leave that kid alone.
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bustloose
May 12, 2004, 5:57 PM
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i would suspect, mr style, that we here on the forum are not exactly getting the whole truth of the matter.
have you ever, in your life, been standing at the front desk of a gym for 26 minutes without being acknowledged? my longest wait ever was about 6 minutes, because the staff girl was doing a belay test.
maybe the front of the gym was not visible from where the 'punks' were 'trying to boulder' (cause skill matters in a gym employee) maybe our poster was sitting reading a magazine waiting, maybe he only waited 8 minutes but wants us all to feel bad for him. there are so many people here who tell so many lies for the sake of a good story, sometimes i just can't let it go.
"one time, this guy who i know, his friend was leading this route who's name i can't remember, and his belayer, who was a girl i met but don't know her name was having trouble with the 'gri', and he was all scared and shit, but kept clmbing anyway cause he's like, totally badass, and she finally figured out the device and took in 42 feet of slack just as he popped off the crux of the 13a... dude was so lucky. i was there, it was sick."
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jipstyle
May 12, 2004, 6:14 PM
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In reply to: i would suspect, mr style, that we here on the forum are not exactly getting the whole truth of the matter. have you ever, in your life, been standing at the front desk of a gym for 26 minutes without being acknowledged? my longest wait ever was about 6 minutes, because the staff girl was doing a belay test.
No, I haven't ... but that doesn't mean it doesn't happen. Maybe, as you point out, mrmons' story was somewhat embellished. How can I know? I'm answering the posts as they are written. I am not further embellishing them by imagining someone so desperate for attention that they would post a false story to stimulate a conversation.
In reply to: maybe the front of the gym was not visible from where the 'punks' were 'trying to boulder' (cause skill matters in a gym employee) maybe our poster was sitting reading a magazine waiting, maybe he only waited 8 minutes but wants us all to feel bad for him. there are so many people here who tell so many lies for the sake of a good story, sometimes i just can't let it go.
He could see them bouldering ... they could see him at the counter. Light is funny that way ... it likes to travel in straight lines.
You can imagine whatever you like about the post ... I just answer them as they are written. In the case of your 'example' ... a moron can see that is an invention. This story is quite plausible ... too many gyms hire immature teenagers because they are a source of cheap labour. How many adult climbers do you know that are willing to work for minimum wage belaying children for hours on end?
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mrmons
May 12, 2004, 6:55 PM
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bustloose, if I could have identified him I would have asked for help. He was bouldering at the time. (I thought I said that). Also, I understand the gyms need to protect themselves (I believe I said this too). My name is in their computer system as having climbed there before.
To answer another question, we went to the gym because we wanted to climb and it was pouring out. Also, the desk is less that 5 feet from the bouldering area.
This story is the way it happened, believe it or not, it matters little to me.
Mr. Mons :twisted:
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mrmons
May 12, 2004, 8:26 PM
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Jipstyle, we did go to another gym after that and had a lot better time. Much better climbing and the guy working there sat behind the desk the whole time except when people came in that were new to climbing came in. He was able to test them or teach them belay. What a concept!
Mr.Mons :twisted:
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philbox
Moderator
May 12, 2004, 10:29 PM
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philbox moved this thread from General to Indoor Gyms.
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c-money
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May 14, 2004, 5:12 AM
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I had a similar experience where the staff did not acknowledge me when I entered a gym, and there was no one at the front-desk.
I waited, couldn't pick out who the staff was, and had nobody acknowledge that I had even entered the facility. It wasn't even very busy at all.
So I walked in and started climbing.
Nobody seemed to mind. For me, it was free and I didn't have to fill out any paperwork, so I was happy. Doesn't seem like they were running too tight a ship... if they were on top of things going on in their facility, they would have simply tracked me down and asked me if I needed a hand.
I am not recomending sneaking in to your local gym, but having to wait 26 minutes (or even 10) is total garbage. I would have walked in and made the little punk do some work: chasing me down.
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happiegrrrl
May 15, 2004, 2:01 AM
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In reply to: i would suspect, mr style, that we here on the forum are not exactly getting the whole truth of the matter. have you ever, in your life, been standing at the front desk of a gym for 26 minutes without being acknowledged?
I had a "waiting too long at the front desk of a gym, in my opinion" moment about three weeks ago. I didn't time it, but I would guess it had to have been 15 minutes. It would have been one thing if the employee was handling work related issues, and/or acknowledged my waiting and/or told me she'd be with me in a moment, but alas I was ignored.
Even though I was with a regular at the gym, and we had all the gear slung over our shoulders, apparently it was more important to take care of one non-work related issue after another before acknowledging us.
I was incredulous, and had I not been the guest of the other climber, would have made some rude gesture or remark (Oh...so rude I am - It would have been the stupid throat-clearing thing or saying "excuse me, can you sign us in?"). Alas, the regular gym climber went unphased by this incredibly bizarre delay, and I felt it would be rude for me to...well, be rude!
Finally, the employee turned to the regular and asked "Does she know how to belay?" The answer came back yes, She said "$14" - I paid, and that was that....wierd.
Man...I remember the days when I worked at JCPenney. We practically got whipped if we weren't on the mark with customers. It was even in our handbook "No personal conversations between employees on the selling floor and/or employees friends visiting the store."
My dad hadda walk 5 miles through snow to get to school, I couldn't talk to anyone other than customers on the selling floor at JCPenney....What do you think this generation of lowly paid workers will be telling future generations to describe "how bad we had it...?"
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