# Assholes at the gym: A "What would you do?" and "Here's what I did" **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [September 14, 2010, 5:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/assholes-at-the-gym-a-what-would-you-do-and-heres-what-i-did/553744 "2010-09-14T17:26:13Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 13\ **Page:** 7
**Author:** ![Lynn\_Bodoni](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e47c2d/32.png) [@Lynn\_Bodoni](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lynn_Bodoni)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2010, 6:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/assholes-at-the-gym-a-what-would-you-do-and-heres-what-i-did/553744/121 "2010-09-16T18:43:01Z")
Nope, you don’t have to be a member. After all, how many times have you heard or read about some ex-employee coming into the workplace and opening up fire? Same principle, you know. I prefer your option of strangling (or garrotting) because it has that PERSONAL touch. Too many people go for the “kill everyone in sight” option, which dilutes the message. You’re angry at the gym, yes, but mostly because of these two assholes. You don’t have anything against most of the other customers, right? And I’ll bet you’d get cheered on by other female customers, too. ---
**Author:** ![MeanOldLady](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/meanoldlady/32/10737_2.png) [@MeanOldLady](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MeanOldLady)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2010, 6:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/assholes-at-the-gym-a-what-would-you-do-and-heres-what-i-did/553744/122 "2010-09-16T18:45:35Z")
Exactly. I’ll even tell the lady at the membership desk to have a pleasant day. I like her; she’s nice. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Shot\_From\_Guns](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ccd318/32.png) [@Shot\_From\_Guns](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shot_From_Guns)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2010, 6:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/assholes-at-the-gym-a-what-would-you-do-and-heres-what-i-did/553744/123 "2010-09-16T18:51:09Z")
Seriously, I can’t believe you two. Non-member stranglings are so _gauche_. ---
**Author:** ![msmith537](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d9b06d/32.png) [@msmith537](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/msmith537)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2010, 8:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/assholes-at-the-gym-a-what-would-you-do-and-heres-what-i-did/553744/124 "2010-09-16T20:38:30Z")
What about just be like “dude…shut the fuck up”? ---
**Author:** ![Gary\_Robson](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gary_robson/32/3448_2.png) [@Gary\_Robson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gary_Robson)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2010, 9:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/assholes-at-the-gym-a-what-would-you-do-and-heres-what-i-did/553744/125 "2010-09-16T21:13:44Z")
> [@Evil\_Captor](#): > > Then I’d strangle Gary for doing my joke first. As long as you complained first 😉 > [@Shot\_From\_Guns](#): > > Seriously, I can’t believe you two. Non-member stranglings are so _gauche_. Unless they’re done _right_! (bilingual puns FTW). ---
**Author:** ![Shot\_From\_Guns](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ccd318/32.png) [@Shot\_From\_Guns](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shot_From_Guns)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2010, 9:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/assholes-at-the-gym-a-what-would-you-do-and-heres-what-i-did/553744/126 "2010-09-16T21:34:44Z")
[quote=“Gary “Wombat” Robson, post:125, topic:553744”] Unless they’re done _right_! [/QUOTE] Impossible. There will always be something sinister about them. ---
**Author:** ![MeanOldLady](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/meanoldlady/32/10737_2.png) [@MeanOldLady](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MeanOldLady)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2010, 9:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/assholes-at-the-gym-a-what-would-you-do-and-heres-what-i-did/553744/127 "2010-09-16T21:42:20Z")
> [@msmith537](#): > > What about just be like “dude…shut the fuck up”? There’s always that, but I am not going to pay money to go to a place where people on the staff harass me. I should not have to tell people who work there to shut their fucking mouths, especially after I’ve said no very clearly numerous times. Every time I went, I was always like, “I really hope that dumb fuck doesn’t harass me again,” and every single time I went, he did. If some asshole who also worked out there kept bothering me, I’d probably tell him to shut the fuck up. ---
**Author:** ![Freudian\_Slit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/5daacb/32.png) [@Freudian\_Slit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Freudian_Slit)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2010, 9:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/assholes-at-the-gym-a-what-would-you-do-and-heres-what-i-did/553744/128 "2010-09-16T21:52:48Z")
> [@MeanOldLady](#): > > There’s always that, but I am not going to pay money to go to a place where people on the staff harass me. I should not have to tell people who work there to shut their fucking mouths, especially after I’ve said no very clearly numerous times. Every time I went, I was always like, “I really hope that dumb fuck doesn’t harass me again,” and every single time I went, he did. If some asshole who also worked out there kept bothering me, I’d probably tell him to shut the fuck up. It also puts you in a weird position. Even if I have the right to tell someone to fuck off, I’m still going to feel vaguely weird/guilty/bad about doing it because it’s not normal behavior. I’d rather go to a place where people are polite and accommodating and I can smile or say hi at the staff without having to explain that I don’t want to be hassled. ---
**Author:** ![Gary\_Robson](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gary_robson/32/3448_2.png) [@Gary\_Robson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gary_Robson)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2010, 10:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/assholes-at-the-gym-a-what-would-you-do-and-heres-what-i-did/553744/129 "2010-09-16T22:21:59Z")
> [@Shot\_From\_Guns](#): > > [quote=“Gary “Wombat” Robson, post:125, topic:553744”] > > Unless they’re done _right_! Impossible. There will always be something sinister about them. [/QUOTE] Well played! ---
**Author:** ![Cat\_Fight](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/90ced4/32.png) [@Cat\_Fight](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cat_Fight)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2010, 10:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/assholes-at-the-gym-a-what-would-you-do-and-heres-what-i-did/553744/130 "2010-09-16T22:25:35Z")
> [@Lynn\_Bodoni](#): > > Actually, the one guy has cost the gym AT LEAST two customers. He’s probably chased away several other female customers, it’s just that the OP didn’t happen to talk to them. There’s a big difference between being friendly and outgoing and being creepy. Anyone who doesn’t know the difference, or doesn’t care, shouldn’t be working with the public. Even if he’s got some mandate from the gym to keep pestering every member lest they ever need help (which is probably not the case, though not out of the question for some gyms, which seem to thrive on obnoxious enthusiasm), then she should complain so this policy changes. The OP really made me roll my eyes. I hate overenthusiastic service. I won’t strangle the person, but I’ll make it known, politely, that I’ll let them know if I need help. Persisting past that? And I’m in spandex, listening to my iPod, focusing on a goal and/or going over my day? That’s a strangling. ---
**Author:** ![Cat\_Fight](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/90ced4/32.png) [@Cat\_Fight](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cat_Fight)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2010, 10:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/assholes-at-the-gym-a-what-would-you-do-and-heres-what-i-did/553744/131 "2010-09-16T22:31:09Z")
Meant to add: Gym staff turnover can be pretty high, so if the gym’s convenient there’s a chance you could re-join in a few months. That being said… and debating whether or not to post this… friend of mine got stalked by her ex trainer, who used her membership details. It didn’t end horribly but she was pretty freaked out for a year, then he seemed to disappear (she didn’t get him fired but last I checked he no longer works at the gym). These guys just sound like douches, though, who feel everyone’s entitled to their winning personalities and advice. ---
**Author:** ![Eureka](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/74df32/32.png) [@Eureka](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eureka)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2010, 1:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/assholes-at-the-gym-a-what-would-you-do-and-heres-what-i-did/553744/132 "2010-09-17T01:47:52Z")
> [@MeanOldLady](#): > > [ > See, I was with you until the end. I guess I’m being a giant baby, because once I’m so bothered that I need to complain, I don’t want to go back anymore. I don’t want to stay and see if management improves things. I want to leave, so I combined the last and second to last step into one. > [snip] > The membership lady asked me repeatedly if there was anything she could do. I told her she can tell the two to knock it off, but at this point, I feel so uncomfortable with them, that I would not be coming back. Then the manager e-mailed me twice asking me to talk to her about it, and in her second e-mail she said she promised she wasn’t going to try to sales pitch me into changing my mind. She really wanted to talk to me about what these a-holes were doing. My two cents, while you obviously always have the option of quitting more or less at the same time as you complain, I think a reasonable argument can be made that you waited too long to complain. I’m not sure I’d call you a giant baby, but I do think that the time to complain was the first or maybe the second time you had a problem. Certainly by the time you start adjusting your weekly schedule to accommodate avoiding problem employees, it might have been more productive to complain. But, um, aside from the never actually used a gym thing, I’m not sure I can honestly claim that I would have complained in your shoes as opposed to just quitting. ---
**Author:** ![MeanOldLady](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/meanoldlady/32/10737_2.png) [@MeanOldLady](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MeanOldLady)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2010, 3:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/assholes-at-the-gym-a-what-would-you-do-and-heres-what-i-did/553744/133 "2010-09-17T15:43:58Z")
> [@Eureka](#): > > My two cents, while you obviously always have the option of quitting more or less at the same time as you complain, I think a reasonable argument can be made that you waited too long to complain. I’m not sure I’d call you a giant baby, but I do think that the time to complain was the first or maybe the second time you had a problem. Certainly by the time you start adjusting your weekly schedule to accommodate avoiding problem employees, it might have been more productive to complain. You, sir or ma’am, I think are correct. By the time I’m thinking “I really wish those bastards would just leave me alone” as I’m lacing up, it’s time to say something. I guess I thought they would get the hint, which weren’t exactly hints considering my language was pretty plain. I’m not sure why I thought that considering evidence, but once every ten years, I’m wrong about something. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/assholes-at-the-gym-a-what-would-you-do-and-heres-what-i-did/553744.md?page=6)