the village people had it all wrong

this is the mission of the YMCA in the united states, according to its website:

"To put Christian principles in to practice through programs that build healthy spirit, mind and body for all"

i'm here to tell you that mission is not alive and well.

i've been searching for a place to work out in knoxville while i'm stuck here. i'm not buying any memberships so long as i have one to the williamson county recreation center in nashville. but, i figured there would be places around town, say the ymca, that might allow me in on a single-time pass.

i sought out a city-owned rec center first, recalling the time i lived in chattanooga and the city owned a weight training room that you could patronize for just 50 cents. the one i decided to try is just a hop and a half away from the boyfriend's house, and the city's website advertised it as having a weight room. false advertising. i found the gym and the bridge center, but no weight room.

so i drove over to a nearby ymca. i also recalled a few times while in chattanooga (and too poor for a gym membership) paid $5 to get into the ymca's weight room. a little over priced, but not to expensive to keep me away.

gal at the desk of the knoxville y: can i help you?
me: yes, i don't have a membership. i'm visiting from out of town and was wondering if you do single-day passes?
other gal at the desk: ha!
first gal: weeeeeeeeeell, we do, but they're $15.
me: $15? that's a lot of money. um, nevermind.
first gal: ok, see ya.

ok, when i think of Christian principles, i do not think of exclusive, overpriced and unfriendly. but those words pretty much summed up the principles at this ymca (and presumably all the ymcas within the east tennessee region). come to think of it, this is also the case in middle tennessee where the ymcas are COUNTRY CLUBS. seriously. i visited one when i was thinking about getting a membership there and it crossed my mind that i had been in country clubs not nearly as fancy as the y i was in.

from the Book of Matthew, Chapter 19: Then Jesus said to his disciples, "Amen, I say to you, it will be hard for one who is rich to enter the kingdom of heaven. Again I say to you, it is easier for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle than for one who is rich to enter the kingdom of God."

something to think about, ymca.

oh, you're soooooooo cool

i'm not going to reveal what my halloween costume is because all will be known in due time, but i will say this: an effort to complete it this evening took me to a store at the mall to which i'd never ventured: hot topic.

i thought i was cool. i thought i was hip. what i really learned is i'm now that old bitch who only thinks she can shop in "i'm SO punk, therefore am better than you" tweenland. for some reason my presence elicited glares from the entire U-16 shopping crowd. bitches, i can drive myself to and from the mall. you have to wait on your parents.

i do love the fact that the cashier (who looked as old as i am, but was dressed much differently than my for-work khaki pants, grey turtleneck sweater and denim jacket getup) gave me a "frequent shopper" card, knowing full and well that i likely will never return to hot topic.

i just needed a t-shirt with a skull on the front. instead i got a shirt with a skull on the front AND a healthy dose of reality. sheesh.

hell on wheels

picture this: i'm about to turn left onto the interstate on ramp. there's a minivan in the right lane slightly in front of me, hovering. i see the driver's eyes in the rearview mirror. i can tell by the look in them that she wants to get over so she can get on the interstate too.

question 1: do you think the driver has her turn signal on to signal she would like to get over in front of me?

question 2: do you think i let her over?

(i'll give you a hint, the answers directly correlate.)

i know, i'm a bitch, but seriously people, using a blinker is like the easiest principle of driving.

an observation, if you will

i've had a lovely day today, but only one thing is sticking with me that seems to warrant its own blog post and that's this:

middle-aged women should not wear clothes from hollister. i don't care how hot of a bod you have, any shopping that's to be done at hollister, abercrombie or american eagle is to be done for your tween. that's the only reason those stores exist. go to the gap or something.

observations, oh yeah

_ i saw an advertisement from philip morris on tv hawking their hotline to call if you're seeking help quitting smoking. i know they're more or less required to do these sort of public services thanks to all the lawsuits, but how effective do you think a quit-smoking hotline sponsored by a cigarette maker is really going to be?
_ cardinals are one win away from .500 ball, which is the goal i set for them when i realized early in the season how bad they were sucking. they're like two wins away from finally wrenching the lead of the nl central away from the brewers/cubs. miracles happen -- see 2006 world series results.
_ in other baseball news, the texas rangers set the record for most runs scored in a game with 30 today. wtf? mlb game scores = outta hand
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_ hi to any myspace friends of mine who are checking this out for the first time. please leave some love, lemme know what you think.