Friday, August 29, 2008

Alive and Well

A personal training outfit opened up near my studio. Flying under the name Crossfit, their workouts boast a cross between vintage strongman and the 300 workout. (The actors of the movie, 300, underwent this special workout). Two partners run the business: the dude is an ex-Olympic weight lifter and the woman a former collegiate rower. Their business has been growing at a decent rate over the last three months. I introduced myself and found them to be nice people. They told me that they hoped their good friends occupy the unit next door-also personal trainers but with a more traditional workout regimen.
Three months later which brings us to yesterday, I met the other trainers as they moved into their unit. A couple of nice guys both fit as the butcher's dogs...to borrow a British phrase. They were supposed to move in at the same time as their Crossfit pals but were forced to jump through several hoops. The city (re: permits)ran their credit several times, and demanded several references. After this they were made to play the, hurry up and wait game. The trainer told me that both of their credit ratings were far better than their weight lifter buddy from Crossfit.
The landlord handed the new tenants a legal-document sized and extremely redundant application form that made them jump through more hoops. One of the hoops being, a larger deposit than his Crossfit colleagues. ($900 more). When he looked at his buddy's application he noticed a major difference. It was only one page and contained little more than a signature. Do you know where I'm going folks? You guessed it. It is 2008 and racism is alive and well in America. It makes me wanna holler!

The Crossfit trainers are white. The two new personal trainers are black.

1 comment:

coolingstar9 said...

sweetlou,
Hope you and the trainers have the good relationment because they are always nearby.
Have a good life.