Wednesday, January 3, 2007

Monroe and Aquatics and Fitness Center

Monroe and Aquatics and Fitness Center

Go ahead, click it - it'll open in a new window. I'll wait.

Now, someone tell me why I'm pissed off about it.

See Monroe Aquatics and Fitness Center is having a New Year's special. $100 off the joining fee. This is the only time we could possibly even consider joining because we will never have $175 to join. So I go to their site today and look at their membership list and rate schedules to do the math and see if the monthly fees would be feasible. On the Family Membership plan, during the special - it would cost us $75 to join, and then $75 a month once you add on the extra kids. Not too bad. But wait, it says "married couple" -I better call and check that out...

So I call, and yes, you must be legally married to join as a family. We, then, must use 2 memberships. Scott would have to join as an Individual and then I could do the Parent/Child plan and then add the extra 3 kids. This, because of the special, actually decreases our joining fee from $75 to $50... but it increases our monthly fee to nearly $100 a month - because we aren't freakin married.

Now there are only so many reasons a place would set the "married couple" rule, and being in Bible Belt, NC, I feel safe in assuming it's a case of mandated morals. Don't want huzzies or heathens hanging out at the pool with their "significant others" now do we - might taint the water, or the kids, or something.

So, I am immediately pissed off, which must have shown because I was put on hold for the Supervisor who eventually came back to the phone, made me explain the situation again and offered this advice: "Just come in, fill out the paperwork, and don't mention the fact that you're unmarried."

Hello?

OK, first, I don't feel as though I should have to hide or be ashamed of my family or my marital status, and fuck you very much for trying to make me. Second, what kind of hypocritical bunch of assholes is running this place if they require marriage for moral reasons, then recommend dishonesty? (And if you know Erin at all, you know dishonesty is her main pet-peeve anyway!) Third, if I decide to be dishonest by "not mentioning" that we're not married, and anyone questions it, then I'm forced either to lie outright (not an option, if you know Erin at all, you already knew this) or lose the money I've paid in because we all know that these things are non-refundable (also not an option, if you know Erin's wallet, you'll already know this as well.)

Now all that's already plenty to get my panties in a big flaming bunch, ok? And I don't even wear panties so that's pretty damn pissed off. I've already decided that, even if they let us in for free, there's no way in hell this bunch of fucknuts is getting our business. They can take their hypocritical moralistic judgement, and shove it up their collective ass. I have no intention of doing business with a company that operates this way.

But when I share the situation with someone else, she says to me, "...and just think, this is how gay and lesbian couples always get treated..."

Now I hadn't thought of it that way at all up till then. So I get to thinking about this, and like I said to her, I guess, if it were really important to us, Scott and I could get married (not that we'd do it for a fucking gym membership but you know what I mean...) and meet the requirements and avoid paying more for our membership, but a gay or lesbian couple can't ever meet those requirements, not in NC anyway.

So, basically, a gay/lesbian couple doesn't have the option of joining unless they pay double the joining fees and double the monthly fees. Now, isn't that discrimination?

UGH! I am so beyond pissed off right now, and all this happened HOURS ago!

I hope every god blessed kid in Monroe pisses in the MAFC pool tomorrow! Better yet... if only I had a one day pass and a handful of Butterfinger bars!

7 comments:

  1. Only you could post something that gets me pissed off and laughing at the same time.

    Discrimination of any kind is terrible, whether it's directed at you or not. And I'll tell you, when I looked at the membership fee schedule, that didn't even cross my mind. I was looking at the "family" plan and noticing that it only allows for two kids and that had me pissed enough. BTW, they'd better be a damn fine organization to pay that much per month to join.

    We had a similar situation with a homebuilder recently. We went to their model to take a walk-through and get some info and we were curtly informed that they were so back-logged that they weren't even putting anyone else on the waiting list for new construction. The sales-person wouldn't even let us walk through the model or take a list of floorplans. The next guy that walked through the door, met by the same salesman, was greeted warmly and led through the model all while discussing where lots were still available.

    Burned the shit out of me. Wil is in love with this particular builder and is willing to still build with them, but I told him that if he were to buy one of their homes, I'd be sleeping in a tent outside. Funny how the one discriminated against and pre-judged is the one that's able to forgive or forget it.
    *sigh*

    Can I send you a case of Butterfingers?

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  2. Angie pretty much summed it up.

    I'm sorry people are such assholes Erin. :( What about a local high school swimming pool or something? Up in Michigan, the high school that I went to had open swim nights twice a week and I think it was only a dollar or two to get in.

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  3. alrighty then. bye bye now!

    she's mad as hell!

    I think I heard Twisted Sister in the background: "We're not gonna take it! No! We ain't gonna take it! We're not gonna take it anymore! Come on!......"

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  4. now, that's just back-ass-wards. Grr...so much for forward thinking.

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  5. Gather the villagers and burn the joint!

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  6. We bought three of our kids karate lessons at the discounted family rate without so much as asking if "step-siblings" counted, because in my mind, there was no question about any of our kids "counting" as family. Year and a half later, Karate Instructor finally noticed that sometimes my girls would come to lessons with their stepmother and Beanpole would come with two other women. One day I happened to be there when Beanpole had come with his mom and other stepmom, and Karate Instructor asked me about it. He took me aside, out of everyone's earshot and asked, "Who is that tall, mannish-looking woman and who is that shorter, plumper woman?"

    I said, "The woman in Carharts is Beanpole's mother. The woman in gray dress slacks is his other stepmother."

    The man looked pitifully confused, then the little forty-watt lightbulb went off over his head and confusion turned to judgment. I said, "Yeah. Given the common attitude of our community, lessons in self-defense are an excellent idea, aren't they?"

    Pffft.

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  7. I can't believe that in our city of Mauldin (in bassackward Greenville County, SC, where County Council once passed a referrendum condeming homosexuality and caused the 1996 Olympic committee to decide to take the torch only through Greenville city limits instead of through the entire county) the city-sponsored sports center I just joined does have a "two in the same household" rate, and your city, not far from the Charlotte-area, doesn't.

    Totally lame... asswipes...

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