21 March 2006
I had a very frustrating morning so despite a few earlier blogs are still in production, I have to publish this one just to get something off my chest.
I made an effort to get up at 6 a.m. while it's still dark outside so I can get to the 7.30 a.m. Body Pump class. I was surprised to find so many people had the same thing in mind. There were 44 people in the class.
I think I made a mistake by telling the instructor that I have some mobility problem and am recovering from hemiplegia because he kept picking on me in the class despite I hid at the back corner. After the class, he told me to see him after I pack up. I thought he was going to tell me I'm doing fine and would give me some pointers on the exercises. I was totally wrong. He told me he didn't think this class is right for me. In fact, he added, he doesn't think I should attend any of the classes because there are too many people in the class and the instructor couldn't possibily keep an eye on me all the time. He said my balance was so bad he was worried that I might injure myself. I told him I didn't think I was anywhere near injuring myself since I was using the lightest weight. He said my barbell was tipping over to one side and I could fall over and hurt myself. I told him my physio thinks I'm ok to attend the class. He thinks not only I shouldn't attend Body Pump. I should not be allowed top attend all classes because that puts pressure on the instructors to keep an eye on me and it's too dangerous for me. It turned out that he is also the operations manager at the sports centre. He then mentioned something about 'duty of care' crap. I feel like saying to him 'don't give me this bullshit, I'm a Chartered Accountant and a financial planner and i think I know enough about duty of care to say I don't think it applies in this case'. I think he's taken this concept to the extreme. I wonder if he is studying at the momement so he uses 'duty of care' loosely.
He told me he thinks I should have personal training or work at the gym. I told him i go to the gym everyday anyway and I have had personal training before. I told him my physio didn't think it's a problem for me to attend classes. He asked me who my phsyio was. He thought it's someone from the sports centre. I felt like saying ' are you kidding? I need a neuro physio not just someone fresh from uni who works at the uni sports centre.' In the end, he told me I cannot attend classes until my physio speaks with him. At first, he asked for a signed declaration from the physio but I told him i don't think my physio would do that so he said as long as my physio calls him and talk to him about it, it's ok.
I was almost in tears by this stage but managed to fight back the tears. I felt like I was discriminated against because I have a (mild) disability and my self-esteem is low. I didn't want to cry in front of him and give him the satisfactiion of 'kicking an under dog'. I told him I'll speak to my physio and went to the gym.
I don't remember what I did at the gym because I was so disturbed by this incident. When I was on the Cross Trainer, Mike, the owner of the personal training group, came up to me and told me he just had a phone call from Alex, the operations manager of the sports centre. Apparently he was checking on me. Mike said he told Alex I had many personal training sessions with them and know what I'm doing. I felt a bit uncomfortable with this because Alex obviously didn't trust me and had to call the personal trainer to check my story. Mike is nice enough but I don't want him to think that I might be going back for personal training.
When I got home, I called Gain straight away to ask him for help but he was not there so I left a message. I guess I was really anxious because I called again just around 11 am - the time I think Gary normally sees him, thinking he'll have to be there. He was busy so they told me he'd call me back later. I hopped on the internet and sent him an email. When I was writing the email, I think it's a good thing I didn't get to speak to him because I was all emotional and I think I'd break down in tears if I had to tell him the story. Sometimes, it's a bit easier to write than to talk to someone on the phone.
I was very tempted to call Neil or Rosemary just to get it off my chest. I felt very hard done by. It's hard enough to go through what I've been through. The last thing i need is for someone to put me down like this. I felt my self esteem was completely shattered. Why couldn't people understand how hard i had to work just to get to this stage - something people just take for granted. I think it's very unsympathetic of him to just write me off like that. I didn't end up calling either of them because I was worried that Gavin may be returning my call while I'm on the phone.
Gavin called me back eventually. I was surprised to find that he's already read my email and talked to Alex for me. I think Alex was very determined to get rid of me from the classes because Gavin had to remind him that I could sue them for discrimination when he insisted that I should not be allowed to go because there is too much risk for them. Gavin said in the end Alex agreed to me attending the class provided that Gavin go through some exercises with me. Apparently. Alex will email Gavin the exercises in the Body Pump classes so he can go through them with me. That's the condition he negotiated for me, which is pretty good. I'm still upset with Alex, or Melbourne uni sports, for that matter. I have been quite unhappy with the way the classes and tickets system work for some time. It's very inconvienent for someone like me to get there early enough to get a ticket since I'm not on campus all the time. Gavin also told me he said to Alex something like ' do you know it takes so much courage for someone like Teresa to attend the class'. I almost burst into tears when I heard that because he obviously understands what I have been through and I always feel my effort is not recognised or acknowledged by people (in general). I think I'll check the class timetable and instructors carefully next time and try to avoid Alex's classes in future.
I made an effort to get up at 6 a.m. while it's still dark outside so I can get to the 7.30 a.m. Body Pump class. I was surprised to find so many people had the same thing in mind. There were 44 people in the class.
I think I made a mistake by telling the instructor that I have some mobility problem and am recovering from hemiplegia because he kept picking on me in the class despite I hid at the back corner. After the class, he told me to see him after I pack up. I thought he was going to tell me I'm doing fine and would give me some pointers on the exercises. I was totally wrong. He told me he didn't think this class is right for me. In fact, he added, he doesn't think I should attend any of the classes because there are too many people in the class and the instructor couldn't possibily keep an eye on me all the time. He said my balance was so bad he was worried that I might injure myself. I told him I didn't think I was anywhere near injuring myself since I was using the lightest weight. He said my barbell was tipping over to one side and I could fall over and hurt myself. I told him my physio thinks I'm ok to attend the class. He thinks not only I shouldn't attend Body Pump. I should not be allowed top attend all classes because that puts pressure on the instructors to keep an eye on me and it's too dangerous for me. It turned out that he is also the operations manager at the sports centre. He then mentioned something about 'duty of care' crap. I feel like saying to him 'don't give me this bullshit, I'm a Chartered Accountant and a financial planner and i think I know enough about duty of care to say I don't think it applies in this case'. I think he's taken this concept to the extreme. I wonder if he is studying at the momement so he uses 'duty of care' loosely.
He told me he thinks I should have personal training or work at the gym. I told him i go to the gym everyday anyway and I have had personal training before. I told him my physio didn't think it's a problem for me to attend classes. He asked me who my phsyio was. He thought it's someone from the sports centre. I felt like saying ' are you kidding? I need a neuro physio not just someone fresh from uni who works at the uni sports centre.' In the end, he told me I cannot attend classes until my physio speaks with him. At first, he asked for a signed declaration from the physio but I told him i don't think my physio would do that so he said as long as my physio calls him and talk to him about it, it's ok.
I was almost in tears by this stage but managed to fight back the tears. I felt like I was discriminated against because I have a (mild) disability and my self-esteem is low. I didn't want to cry in front of him and give him the satisfactiion of 'kicking an under dog'. I told him I'll speak to my physio and went to the gym.
I don't remember what I did at the gym because I was so disturbed by this incident. When I was on the Cross Trainer, Mike, the owner of the personal training group, came up to me and told me he just had a phone call from Alex, the operations manager of the sports centre. Apparently he was checking on me. Mike said he told Alex I had many personal training sessions with them and know what I'm doing. I felt a bit uncomfortable with this because Alex obviously didn't trust me and had to call the personal trainer to check my story. Mike is nice enough but I don't want him to think that I might be going back for personal training.
When I got home, I called Gain straight away to ask him for help but he was not there so I left a message. I guess I was really anxious because I called again just around 11 am - the time I think Gary normally sees him, thinking he'll have to be there. He was busy so they told me he'd call me back later. I hopped on the internet and sent him an email. When I was writing the email, I think it's a good thing I didn't get to speak to him because I was all emotional and I think I'd break down in tears if I had to tell him the story. Sometimes, it's a bit easier to write than to talk to someone on the phone.
I was very tempted to call Neil or Rosemary just to get it off my chest. I felt very hard done by. It's hard enough to go through what I've been through. The last thing i need is for someone to put me down like this. I felt my self esteem was completely shattered. Why couldn't people understand how hard i had to work just to get to this stage - something people just take for granted. I think it's very unsympathetic of him to just write me off like that. I didn't end up calling either of them because I was worried that Gavin may be returning my call while I'm on the phone.
Gavin called me back eventually. I was surprised to find that he's already read my email and talked to Alex for me. I think Alex was very determined to get rid of me from the classes because Gavin had to remind him that I could sue them for discrimination when he insisted that I should not be allowed to go because there is too much risk for them. Gavin said in the end Alex agreed to me attending the class provided that Gavin go through some exercises with me. Apparently. Alex will email Gavin the exercises in the Body Pump classes so he can go through them with me. That's the condition he negotiated for me, which is pretty good. I'm still upset with Alex, or Melbourne uni sports, for that matter. I have been quite unhappy with the way the classes and tickets system work for some time. It's very inconvienent for someone like me to get there early enough to get a ticket since I'm not on campus all the time. Gavin also told me he said to Alex something like ' do you know it takes so much courage for someone like Teresa to attend the class'. I almost burst into tears when I heard that because he obviously understands what I have been through and I always feel my effort is not recognised or acknowledged by people (in general). I think I'll check the class timetable and instructors carefully next time and try to avoid Alex's classes in future.
posted by Teresa Liu at 6:02 PM
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