I harbor a deep and abiding love of the Salem YMCA, where for six months, I had been working dutifully to keep off the pounds I’m in danger of putting on from all of this eating up Oregon.
For half a year, I parked in the jammed lot next to the IKE Box downtown. For half a year I climbed the stairs and walked the track to the Y’s barely-conditioned cardio room, where I often encountered smells so human they were out-of-this-world. For half a year I drank in the chlorine smells of the underground pool and weathered stares from employees gawking at my increasing girth. And for half a year I took yoga classes with a red-headed hot mama named Karen, a sparkly new-ager prone to sprinkling her soothing, meditative yoga sessions with hilarious, end-of-hour TMI outbursts.
Well, my YMCA days are over for now. And I feel awful about it.
My new friends just joined Courthouse and gifted me with a free 30-day pass, which I promptly cashed in last week after putting my Y membership on hold.
My experience at Courthouse has been mixed. It has me longing for the days when I could work out in a place that had an obvious old-school charm and where I felt like I was mixing with the whole range of the Salem community.
My first inclination that Courthouse would be a whole different bag-o-beans occured at the counter, where I asked someone if she could cash in my free pass.
“No,” she said, and looked down at her schedule.
“Just kidding! Sure, I can do that.”
Me: Incredulous, annoyed.
The second sign that Courthouse was a different sell happened at the sales desk, where an employee asked me:
“How old are you, 24?”
Me: Incredulous, really annoyed.
Um…. no. And I don’t look it either. I haven’t looked 24 since I was 22. Then he preceded to circle items in the Courthouse contract and have me initial them — that’s a car sales tactic to get have me believe, on a pscyhological level, that I’ve already committed myself to Courthouse.
Well, I haven’t committed yet. I’ve been going a couple of times a week to work out on the elliptical trainers and to lift some weights and to try as I might to keep from adding even more fat to my face in the pregnancy. You might not be able to tell from this picture, but I’m adding all of my baby weight to my chin.
Naturally, the Courthouse has some obvious draws. It is strenuously clean, looks brand-spanking-new, is air-conditioned (I’m a fiery furnace these days, I need AC!), has a pool (currently closed), and offers a pretty wide range of classes. For older people (there’s even a chair yoga class).
But I can’t help but miss the Y. People don’t talk to you at Courthouse, there is no feeling that the business is doing something to better the community, and the Lancaster Avenue location makes me feel like I am just one more person trying to look good.
At the Y I really did feel like working out was just a regular part of my life here in Salem. At Courthouse, I’m really just working out, and I could be anywhere.
In the end, this is a moot discussion. Have you heard about the Kroc Center? It’s opening at the end of this month and it costs only half as much as the YMCA for a single person’s monthly membership. They have an indoor water park. And registration is free through September 30.
I may not be done switching teams just yet…
