BobbyLayne
Footballguy
This has been bugging me all day, thought I'd throw this to the collective wisdom of the FFA....
My morning routine includes a mid-morning trip to the local Blink Fitness gym for a light workout. About 80% of the days I visit, at some point a local middle aged woman who is disabled comes in with their caregiver aide. Uses a power wheelchair, AFAIK she appears to be spastic in all four limbs. They keep to themselves but are pretty cheerful.
It's really inspirational to see; she cannot get out of her chair without assistance, nor walk on her own. Her caregiver holds her hands/wrists while she slowly walks from her chair to the treadmill. Probably does like 5-10 minutes, moves to an open area where she does sets of squats (again with the caregiver holding her hands.) Then she moves over to resistance training and does pulldowns, leg press, and finishes off with a few sets of kettlebell curls. All the weights are on the minimal setting but still, I just think it's great she is in there every day putting in consistent effort. Always has a cheerful hi and wave when she sees me (she does this with a bunch of regulars...super nice lady.)
Anyway, that's the backstory. The issue is the gym employees have been giving her a hard time about something petty. IMO
A few months ago she was coming in and I was near the entrance, and I overheard the desk employee tagging her in say the caregiver cannot wear jeans (it's a somewhat small gym.) I was stupefied. The caregiver does NOT use any of the gym equipment. She is merely there to assist the disabled lady. A few days later they were two stations down from me and I ask them about it. They were pretty upset about it, I just lent my ear without commenting.
This morning I was coming out of the bathroom (near the entrance) and again a desk person (different employee) was engaging them in what I thought was a condescending manner (tone, rbf, etc.) The employee was telling them the home health aide could not wear Crocs. AGAIN, the caregiver does not use the facilities in any way. Only there to spot the disabled woman and help her move around. This time I decided to interject, but I did so in a non-confrontational way.
"Excuse me....hey how's it going? Listen...is that really necessary? I've looked at your dress code policy and there basically is no dress code. Pretty much anything goes, l mean look over there...those guys over there lifting free weights are in their socks. You allow women to wear anything they deem appropriate & comfortable workout clothing. The members decide. This lady (the caregiver) isn't a member, she is not a guest, she is only here to assist ________ move from her chair to the equipment." At this point the disabled lady starting saying "it's OK, it's OK, I just won't renew my membership" and rolled off to go do her workout.
IDK, the whole thing rubbed me the wrong way. Maybe I'm missing something or being unreasonable. Just kind of made me mad bc the disabled lady is
Not my problem to solve, but walking home I was wondering if there is some organization that helps disabled people who need assistance resolving disputes? Or maybe just consumer advocacy in general?
In the grand scheme of things it's NBD, but just struck me that the gym employees were only harassing her and the caregiver bc they knew they wouldn't push back. Neither here nor there, but the caregiver is a young Latina, from her accent/appearance I would guess Central American, limited English, super quiet person.
(add'l info: although they have a franchise program outside of NYC, it appears most of their 100 locations in the northeast are owned by a central corporate entity, but each location is an LLC - somewhat common around here. In other areas like CA they sell franchises...anyway I can't find any way to contact their HQ to file a complaint.)
Any suggestions?
My morning routine includes a mid-morning trip to the local Blink Fitness gym for a light workout. About 80% of the days I visit, at some point a local middle aged woman who is disabled comes in with their caregiver aide. Uses a power wheelchair, AFAIK she appears to be spastic in all four limbs. They keep to themselves but are pretty cheerful.
It's really inspirational to see; she cannot get out of her chair without assistance, nor walk on her own. Her caregiver holds her hands/wrists while she slowly walks from her chair to the treadmill. Probably does like 5-10 minutes, moves to an open area where she does sets of squats (again with the caregiver holding her hands.) Then she moves over to resistance training and does pulldowns, leg press, and finishes off with a few sets of kettlebell curls. All the weights are on the minimal setting but still, I just think it's great she is in there every day putting in consistent effort. Always has a cheerful hi and wave when she sees me (she does this with a bunch of regulars...super nice lady.)
Anyway, that's the backstory. The issue is the gym employees have been giving her a hard time about something petty. IMO
A few months ago she was coming in and I was near the entrance, and I overheard the desk employee tagging her in say the caregiver cannot wear jeans (it's a somewhat small gym.) I was stupefied. The caregiver does NOT use any of the gym equipment. She is merely there to assist the disabled lady. A few days later they were two stations down from me and I ask them about it. They were pretty upset about it, I just lent my ear without commenting.
This morning I was coming out of the bathroom (near the entrance) and again a desk person (different employee) was engaging them in what I thought was a condescending manner (tone, rbf, etc.) The employee was telling them the home health aide could not wear Crocs. AGAIN, the caregiver does not use the facilities in any way. Only there to spot the disabled woman and help her move around. This time I decided to interject, but I did so in a non-confrontational way.
"Excuse me....hey how's it going? Listen...is that really necessary? I've looked at your dress code policy and there basically is no dress code. Pretty much anything goes, l mean look over there...those guys over there lifting free weights are in their socks. You allow women to wear anything they deem appropriate & comfortable workout clothing. The members decide. This lady (the caregiver) isn't a member, she is not a guest, she is only here to assist ________ move from her chair to the equipment." At this point the disabled lady starting saying "it's OK, it's OK, I just won't renew my membership" and rolled off to go do her workout.
IDK, the whole thing rubbed me the wrong way. Maybe I'm missing something or being unreasonable. Just kind of made me mad bc the disabled lady is
- very meek and Asian...it def felt like they were doing this bc of inherent bias....not overt racism/ableism, just....ya know...giving into preconceived notions, if that makes sense.
- is a small person (again....I've seen this power dynamic in public before. Sometimes people who look wimpy or are diminutive / petite get walked over just because folks with bullying tendencies look for people to prey on)
- she is not impacting anyone at the gym. It's her caregiver the staff has a dress code issue with. The wheelchair lady can't do her workout without help. Why would the gym impose their (loosey goosey for everyone else) dress code on a non-member?
Not my problem to solve, but walking home I was wondering if there is some organization that helps disabled people who need assistance resolving disputes? Or maybe just consumer advocacy in general?
In the grand scheme of things it's NBD, but just struck me that the gym employees were only harassing her and the caregiver bc they knew they wouldn't push back. Neither here nor there, but the caregiver is a young Latina, from her accent/appearance I would guess Central American, limited English, super quiet person.
(add'l info: although they have a franchise program outside of NYC, it appears most of their 100 locations in the northeast are owned by a central corporate entity, but each location is an LLC - somewhat common around here. In other areas like CA they sell franchises...anyway I can't find any way to contact their HQ to file a complaint.)
Any suggestions?
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