When I enquired with justification where and how I should change my clothes, the man had no insight to offer. He simply repeated, "This is not your home. This is not allowed."
I proffered the solution, "Perhaps I should change in the toilet stall." However, the man did not condone this either.
With the towel placed quickly over my waist, I put my shorts on--with the angry Arab man's outrage ringing in my ears. Quite obviously, the man felt he was speaking for all Arab's in the Health Club.
I felt unfairly targeted and abused.
HOW I PROCEEDED
Initially, my anger almost got the better of me. I entertained thoughts of complaining and demanding my money back for my membership immediately. I proceeded with all my belongings to the check-in desk and asked to speak to the manager, who turned out not to be there. I then asked for a pen and paper and wrote up an "incident report" and asked the manager to call me back over the next few mornings. In the report, I asked the manager to look into what had happened and to take time to explain to me the cultural context of the verbal assault I had just faced. Moreover, the bottom-line for me would be "What did I need to do in order to change clothes and not feel like a donkey when I left the club each time?"
At the reception, I also asked for the name of the manager,
and I was informed that his name was Yosef.
I asked whether he was from
A few days later, I finally received a phone call from the manager. By the time, I had finished that call with the Health Club Manager (Yosef), it was clear to me that culturally speaking, the Lebanese Arab was baffled by the behavior of the local Arabs. Yosef said he would look into the matter and get back to me. In the meantime, Yosef made the suggestion and provision that I change my clothes in the massage room area until the matter was cleared up.
(Note: You can view every article as one long page if you sign up as an Advocate Member, or higher).
1
1
