WTFBBQ, YMCA?!!
So, all the talk in the 'finally joined a gym thread' got me thinking that I need to exercise more. I have a stationary bike that I use regularly, but it's not helping me lose my gut. I can't do anything that causes much impact in my knees because of an old injury, so my workout options are a little limited, I used to swim a lot when I was a kid, and I got to thinking that would be a good type of exercise to get back into, but that's not what this thread is about, that's just the set-up.
So, I looked up some YMCAs that were near my work, so that I could use my break between classes for something worthwhile. I stopped in the nearest one to ask about membership, and the girl told me that a one-person membership to just the pool is $50/month...
Thats Fifty Dollars per Month, if you didn't catch it the first time.
That's insane.
When I was a kid, my Dad got us a family membership at the Y for next to nothing, now it costs more than a Gold's Gym membership?!
What happened to the YMCA? When did they stop being a charity-based organization, devoted to helping out young men in need? Did I miss some major national story about the transformation of the YMCA from a non-profit, neighborhood gym and gathering place into a money-hungry conglomerate? I'm seriously confused here, and the teenager behind the desk did not understand my confusion.
WTFBBQ, YMCA?!
Anyone know the story?
So, I looked up some YMCAs that were near my work, so that I could use my break between classes for something worthwhile. I stopped in the nearest one to ask about membership, and the girl told me that a one-person membership to just the pool is $50/month...
Thats Fifty Dollars per Month, if you didn't catch it the first time.
That's insane.
When I was a kid, my Dad got us a family membership at the Y for next to nothing, now it costs more than a Gold's Gym membership?!
What happened to the YMCA? When did they stop being a charity-based organization, devoted to helping out young men in need? Did I miss some major national story about the transformation of the YMCA from a non-profit, neighborhood gym and gathering place into a money-hungry conglomerate? I'm seriously confused here, and the teenager behind the desk did not understand my confusion.
WTFBBQ, YMCA?!
Anyone know the story?
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Comments
I never paid for my membership to the Y in my hometown, if you knew people you could just walk in and do your thing. Couldn't afford it otherwise.
I was just skimming through the YMCA's tyranny. My bad.
I'm glad to hear my bitter experience with them is not universal! Maybe it had something to do with the fact that Banff was such a tourist trap.
I remember having a YMCA membership as a kid and it cost something like $100 per year...
In 1980 an elderly man died and left $500,000 in his will to the city to build a public swimming pool in our city park. The only catch was that if the pool wasnt built within 20 years the money goes to the local YMCA. So for twenty years I read in the paper some of the most ridiculous arguments and excuses why we cant start building the pool this year.
Well in 2001 guess who got a new building? Our local Y is strictly very wealthy upscale members, and they dont let the middle man in those doors. It a country club!
From the Y's webpage:
"The YMCA of the USA is the national resource office for the nation's YMCAs. Located in Chicago, with satellite offices across the country, the YMCA of the USA exists to serve YMCAs. It is staffed by about 350 employees.
Because all communities have different needs, all YMCAs are different; they are autonomous and separate from the YMCA of the USA. They are required by the national constitution to pay annual dues, to refrain from discrimination and to support the YMCA mission. All other decisions are local choices, including programs offered, staffing and style of operation."
I think the organisation needs an overhaul.
Their standard rate for 'members of the community' is as bad as the Y.