Exercise in the year 2004...

Ok... Last week I gave you the list of how NOT to hold a garage sale...

Here's the list of how NOT to open a new YMCA fitness center...

1)Announce that the openning is Memorial day, but really open it a week early and post signs everywhere that say "We just couldn't hold our excitement so we have to let you in early!"

2) Open early, but only when 50% of the damn construction is done so you are walking around construction workers all the time!!!!!

3) Hold an open house for new members, announce you have signed up 4500 families, and then go to the men's locker room and learn there are 120 lockers for all the males.

4) Find out from your wife that there are 300 lockers for women. (Gender bias anyone?)

5)Open up the pool early but don't atleast clean up around the pool so you still have to walk around roof tiles and other equiptment. Oh, and the pool deck is full of mud cause you haven't sodded the grass yet.

6)Put a 1/10th mile running track on the 2nd floor, but with open lookouts below into the gym and pool area so when the pool is full or a basketball game is on, you'll have to hear (and smell) it the entire time. Granted most people run with headphones, but you don't want to have to drown out the other noise.

7) Offer membership cards that are initally crap pieces of paper and then take photos for credit card type ID's but not have the cards ready for 3-5 weeks. Hello? this is a multi-million $$ facility. They couldn't invest $200 in an instant ID printing maching? hell, I have one at work for employees and my highschool had one! 2 seconds, instant ID. I'm sure I could find probably 100 of those paper ID's on Ebay already.

8) Open a brand new facility and have no signs around so a new person has no clue where they are going.

9) Build a multi million $$ facility in the middle of a gigantic farm field yet build that facility smaller than the basement of my house!

10) "oh... that walking track? Sorry.. the steps aren't finished yet. You have to use the fire excape outside to get up there for now..." Yeah. that's where my quality membership dollars are going.

I'm sure I'll have a second top 10 list after my next visit too...