Nothing But Fancy

As most of you know, I work at the YMCA as a lifeguard to supplement my income. I was recently “re-hired” at the Maryland Farms YMCA (MFY). They have come up with a new policy that everyone hired must take a staff tour of the facilities. This is a reasonable requirement, as the MFY is one of the largest and most confusing gym facilities in the United States (I have not been in a gym outside of the US), it has a plethora of split levels and hallways that lead to nowhere. The pools are quite remarkable. There is an 50 yard pool outside with 2 slides, a 0 entry kids pool equipped with slides, water sprays, and water falling from huge and small buckets and a 25 yard indoor pool. All very impressive.

After a year of working in a gym, no matter how confusing, impressive, or large, one learns their way around, therefore as a re-hire I found it surprising that I needed to take the facilities tour.

The tours are offered: Wednesdays at 11am, Thursdays at 3pm, and Tuesdays at 6pm

The only option for myself with a 9-5 job is Tuesdays at 6pm. This is still not a wonderful option because I work in Goodlettsville, TN (north of Nashville) and I will be driving through the WORST traffic that Nashville has to offer. This Tuesday I arrive for my tour at 6:06. When I got there the Center Administrator (aka MFY staff tour guide) told me that I was late and need to reschedule. Fighting back tears of anger I told her my name and manager and left the staff room for the tour to commence.

After I worked out for a bit (I wasn’t going to waste a trip to the YMCA), I came home and wrote this e-mail:

Dear MFY Tour Guide (names changed to protect the guilty),
We met this afternoon when I was late for the staff facilities tour.
I wanted to let you know that I was coming from another job across
town and was caught in afternoon traffic. Except for the 6:00 Tuesday
tour, the tours are offered during regular business hours. An
employee like myself, who has another full time job, has a hard time
attending these tours.
I understand that one of the core values of the YMCA is responsibility
and being on-time is apart of my responsibility to the YMCA family. I
apologize for my punctuality. I enjoy working on the aquatics team
and take much pride in the mission and vision of the YMCA. I hope
that in the future you will take in consideration the diverse
backgrounds of a YMCA employee and work with us to reach the goals of
our organization.
All the Best,
Nancy Hawthorne

I co-copied my manager, who was very supportive. However, the whole thing put my panties in a twist because I HAVE WORKED FOR THE MARYLAND FARMS YMCA FOR A YEAR. DURING THAT TIME I WORKED THE 4:30 AM TO 8:30 AM SHIFT MONDAY, WEDNESDAY, AND FRIDAY!! OUT OF ALL THOSE SHIFTS I HAVE BEEN MORE THAN 6 MINUTES LATE TWICE! MORE TIMES THAN I COULD COUNT, I STOOD OUTSIDE OF THE YMCA IN ALL TYPES OF WEATHER WAITING FOR THE FRONT DESK PERSON TO SHOW UP FOR WORK SO THAT I COULD OPEN THE POOL! I SHOW UP FOR A TOUR, THAT IS SCHEDULED AT ODD HOURS 6 MINUTES LATE AND GET TURNED AWAY.

This makes me angry.