New Bowie Gym Policy

All around the region, places are requiring people to take off their hats, scarves, and sunglasses when they come inside. This is not directed at any specific groups of people; it’s directed at everyone. The banks want your face and head uncovered so the cameras can get better pictures of people. Robbers tend to use all kinds of coverings for their face.

When the Bowie gym started their policy of no scarves, I didn’t think anything about it. What a surprise when I read in the Bowie Blade-News that one woman took offense. In the Commentary/Readers’ Views section of the Thursday, 22 October 2009, paper, a woman feels this is an insult directed at her because she is black. She went on about how hard it is for black women to maintain their hairstyles when they workout. She claims she wears a head scarf to her boot-camp class several times a week to keep her hairstyle. She was warned by the gym that she could no longer wear scarves or bandanas due to the new corporate-enforced dress code.

I could not believe this woman thought the gym’s corporate office went out of their way to make this new policy just to discriminate against her because she is a black woman. When I work out, my hair always gets messed up. I also get sweaty and need a shower afterward working out. This has nothing to do with the fact that I’m white as it has nothing to do with her because she is black. I could not find anyone who thought this new policy was against them.

She contacted the corporate office with her concern about the new policy and how it discriminates against black women who work hard to maintain their hairstyles by wearing scarves. The corporate office was unsympathetic and said their policy was “to promote a nonintimidating atmosphere.”

She continued going on about how gym members wouldn’t be scared that she was some gangbanger and would decide not to join the gym because she was there wearing her scarf. She went on about how disciminatory the dress code really was. By the time she was finished, she had cancelled her gym membership and planned to start a new weekend habit of working out while maintaining her “not-so-good” hair.

I could not believe this woman thought the gym’s corporate office went out of their way to make this new policy just to discriminate against her because she is a black woman. When I work out, my hair always gets messed up. I also get sweaty and need a shower afterward working out. This has nothing to do with the fact that I’m white as it has nothing to do with her because she is black. I could not find anyone who thought this new policy was against them.

Disappearing Tire Cover

The weathermen were calling for a “big” snow storm, so my daughter and I were running around trying to get things done. We were doing the same thing everyone was–running to the store for milk and other necessities. The weathermen had correctly predicted one storm, so they just might be right this time too.

We got home and started unloading the back of the van. We had picked up quite a few groceries and other things. In the process of running in and out of the house carrying numerous bags, my daughter noticed part of the tire cover was missing from the back door. The outside cover surrounding the tire was still there, but not the part that actually covers the tire.

I rushed through scanning the cold things in the bags as my daughter put them away. We knew we had to hurry so we could backtrack the route we took when we were running around. It was imperative that we find the rest of the cover before someone ran over it. If that happened, the cover would crack in a million pieces.

Mind you, in was already dark out and our left front headlight was not working correctly. It came on when it wanted and turned off when it wanted. I had already received an inspection ticket for the headlight being out and couldn’t afford to get another one, especially since I hadn’t gotten this last one taken care of yet. It had been several months since it had been issued too.

After all the frozen stuff was put away, we got back into the van to retrace our route working backwards. We were pretty sure that the cover was intact when we loaded the groceries in the back of the van at Safeway. So that’s where we headed first.

As I drove, I watched the road on my side as my daughter, Jennifer watched the road on hers. We even went so far as to stop at the space where we had previously parked. Jennifer got out to look under the cars in case it rolled when it fell off. It wasn’t there. We left Safeway’s parking lot, still retracing our steps.

As we turned back on the main road, still looking for the tire cover, Jennifer and I both saw it at the same time. It could easily have been mistaken for a manhole cover. Our van is maroon and with the road paved black, it would have been very easy to miss. I unlocked the van, put on the hazard lights, and put the van in park. Luckily, no one was behind us. Jennifer quickly jumped out, grabbed it, and put it in the back seat. She then jumped back into the van. Both of us were thrilled we had found it. It would have been quite expensive to replace.

By the way, we ended up with 23 inches of snow!