Unfiltered Story #253107

One summer I worked the 5 am shift at the front desk of a gym. Despite the fact that it was my first “real” job, I understood the importance of following the rules, and I cared about the effects that not doing so would have on the business.

There had always been a rule that every member had to scan their card every time they came in, but not everyone enforced it, especially with regulars. The problem was that corporate only measured how busy the gym was by the number of check-ins, so if the numbers went down, the gym hours would get cut. This had happened recently, and obviously some people were upset. I started explaining why the hours were cut (members not checking in), and while some people were surprised and promised to always check in, most just blankly said “Oh.” Of course, there were also some people that would try to argue with me, as if I could change it. One member in particular was a big pain in my backside.

Almost every day he would try to walk right past me, as if I hadn’t stopped him the last 20 times he tried that. He would then stop and argue with me, sometimes yelling. I tried several different strategies: Explaining that even though “everyone else” let him not check in, I hadn’t worked there long enough to know every member. (He would yell that since the manager knew him, I should just let him in anyway.) Explaining the rule about the hours getting cut and how that would affect others’ gym time. (He didn’t care.) Explaining the rule about the hours getting cut and how that would affect HIS gym time. (He would start yelling about “us” cutting the hours.) Explaining that “even though I’m sure he paid his bill, we have to check everyone else’s account.” (He would yell that he DID pay his bill.)

Nothing worked, and all the other employees (manager included) said it’s just easier to let him through than try to argue every day. But I knew what he was: an immature bully. I never backed down, and I learned something important that summer: some customers will never behave, and it is SOOOO much more satisfying to force them to follow the rules than it is to “just let it go.” That lesson has served me well in other customer service jobs, and always impresses my coworkers and good customers.