Unsafe New York: Part Twenty Five

WORKING OUT AT A GYM ON NOVEMEBER 22nd, 2006

Below is a real incident that came to pass in the Chelsea Recreation Center, at one of my work outs. This incident has a history and a trail and ended up keeping me out of the gym for an extent of 4 (four) months. Four months of my time, nerves, muscles has been stolen by patriarchy, only on this one incident. How many more of them does my life contain! How much did the patriarchy stolen from me already! How much was that I lost while being impoverished by its endless greed. Greed and cruelty, murder and rape, thievery and adultery, patriarchy has it all. Beasts of the field do not commit such crimes against each other as men commit against women.
And so, the incident.
Below is the copy of a letter that I submitted, at the request of the management of the Chelsea Recreation Center where the incident took place.

To whom it may concern:

I was in the Chelsea Recreation center doing my workout. I am highly organized and have both a certain order and a number of exercises I perform for the sake of working out various parts of my body, creating the result I want.
As I was at my "Assisted Dip Chin" set workout, I was rudely and unprecedently interrupted by someone. "Excuse me, excuse me." I heard at first. My head was down on the pad, as my female body is not used to work out and is weak at many points. I just got a dizzy spell from the strain and had to rest my head on the pad." Miss, miss, are you done?" I heard the question followed by a tapping on the pad upon which my head was now resting. The tapping repeated, now more persistent. I looked up, still weakened by the exercise. "Yes?" I asked. Some guy was standing to my right, hands at his sides. "I have five more left." I told him. I put my head down for another second, when he tapped again and now when to stand behind me. "What?" he said leaning over me and bringing his lips to my ear. "What? Did you say"five more." His normal English turned into a funny accent, with accentuated r's people from Russia have. "Five more?" Ok, you are done. Get off there now!" He ordered me. "I am in the middle of the exercise! I put my head down to catch my breath!" I told him. "No, you are done. I don't want to hear your philosophy. Get off." He tool a step closer to me and for a second I thought he would grab me from behind and drag me down. He went to my further left. He started talking to a man sitting down on a machine. The man was resting. "She is holding you down as well?" he said to the man sitting and resting on the machine. "No, man, I don't want to go there. I am at peace." The guy stood there, his hands at sides, looking at him. He said:"Yes, its thanksgiving. Yes." Some girl giggled at the side:" Yes, hee, hee, it's Thanksgiving." I was doing my exercise.
The guy went around me and looked at me. His face looked contorted. He whispered something to me as he passed by. He then stormed out of the weight room and about 7 minutes later I heard " Don't touch me. Don't put your hands on me." I looked up. Was he now abusing someone else?
I saw the following picture:
The woman I see in the gym, as the employee, and who works hard, was standing with a guy next to her. He was waving his hands to and fro, in front of her face, telling her to "get her off the machine." He said to the woman. "So, what if I touched you? Don't you work here?" The woman stood there, and listened to his angry words. She explained to the gentleman that no, he cannot touch her even though she works here. The guy was very upset. He kept looking at me with hatred and kept saying "take her off the machine." As if I was an inanimate obkect to be moved around.
The woman came up to me and asked me if I was on the machine for "more than half an hour.""No," I responded. I conveyed to her what has passed. The guy run up to the employee and said that he wants to "speak to Michael" and "Michael willsurely set things right." I am always right" the man said boastfully. The employee looked at him. "Always" he repeated and I went back to an intense workout.
A few minutes later, the commotion outside made me look outside. There were about 8 employees. The guy was running around and screaming. The woman who I've encountered previously was there too. I came outside. I heard the guy say that an employee was "imbecile, crazy, schizophrenic" and he also said that she is wrong. The employee explained the situation to her boss. Her boss was trying to reasonable figure out the situation but the guy was unreasonable. He kept putting his hands in the now boss employee's face, kept running up to a woman employee and putting hands in her face. He kept pushing her with his angry workds and name-calling of her, further and further to the wall. "I am right. I am always right! Get Michael!!!"
Someone from staff took down my name for the report and I went back to work out. This rabid individual went back inside shortly after, previously sending his buddy to bully me again. When I came up to a "Leg Extension" machine where I saw a guy resting and sitting, I've waited. After 5 minutes, I asked the man on the machine if he was done. He looked at me. "No." He said sternly. Then, "why are you causing trouble?" "I just want to know if you are done that's all." "No, I have two more sets. Do you know what "two sets" are? Here, watch" he said patronizingly. "I don't want to watch. I just wanted to know if you are done. No need to insult me." I walked away. "Hey, you have to be nicer, seeter then you won't have any problems." said the guy across the room. He kpt sitting on the machine, not using it. I waited. The guy who was in the incident earlier on, came into the room again, and said something fast to the guy who I spoke with in regards to using of the machine just now. The guy on the machine smiled. They both looked at me. I was still waiting for the machine. Eventually, the guy was done. I sat donw to exercise. I was interrupted yet again when a woman employee came into the weight-lifting room and asked me to come out. I told the story to her boss. But the guy kept making loud screams, calling people names and running around.
Now, I would like to say that I get hassled in the gym all the time. every time I peacefully work out, some guy comes up to me and tells me how to A) do the exercise. B) Do it differently. C) Stands there and watches me but does not use the machine after I leave. D) Cracks his knuckle bones by my ear, closely.
Many a guy, in an empty gym, while using other set of machinery, looked at me figuring out the directions for the usage of the machine, and ALWAYS , although I would let them know I did not want help, "helped" me by forcing ,e to listen to directions. Sometimes, men come up to me anf grab a piece of equipment out of my hands and force their help on me. Often I beg them not to disturb me, let me do my thing, but they insist on making sure I don't do what I want to do. Why? Often they stare at me. Often when I lift weights they stop and come up to me and walk around, or whistle or look at my face and whisper something. I feel that men in your gym do not like women, have no respect for difference and are aggressive individuals who proove disturbing, irritating and patronizing. I hope this account will serve you best in your way to imporval upon your growth as a place of diversity in the most diverse city in the world in the most diverse country in history after Rome, the United States of America.
Dana Zakharov.
PS.When the gentleman was yelling outside at employees, he kept bringing up the political linesm calling them "Republicans." He hinted often at race, although the female employee is of a Black race. And the gentleman causing problems is as white as me.