Local Gym Enacts Controversial New Cell Phone Policy
For those of you that go to the gym regularly, you know people taking workout selfies has gotten a little out of hand. For those of you that don’t work out, I’m sure you’ve seen videos or pictures on social media of people taking obscene and obnoxious selfies and videos inside the gym. Some people are basically having photo sessions for Instagram and Tiktok instead of actually working out. This is annoying and distracting to the old school people that just go to the gym to workout.
Strong River Bend Fitness owner Richard Simmons has decided to do something about this issue, and he has enacted a new strict cell phone policy. Photos or videos are no longer allowed in the main gym area. However, he has built a new workout room where cell phones are allowed; this room has mirrors on all four walls. Simmons said, “This trend of gym goers taking pics and videos for social media has gotten out of control. Also, the clothes or lack of clothes on some women has become very distracting as well. Some of my members kept complaining about it to me, so I decided to do something about it. If you want to take selfies, you can go in the cell phone room and take as many as your heart desires.”
Gym members that are caught taking selfies or videos in the main gym area will receive a warning, and they will be banned for 6 months for a second offense. A third offense will result in a permanent ban. Simmons said, “I guess we have a 3 strikes and your out policy. We’ll post multiples signs in the gym to make people aware of our policy. I hope people will comply, because I don’t want a bunch of calls and texts from members tattle tailing on other members. And, I don’t want to have to check security cameras to see if people are violating the new rule.”
The members I talked with had mixed feelings about the new cell phone policy. One young female member said, “I’m not happy about this new rule. I’m trying to build my social media following, and my followers love my workout selfies and videos. I’m up to 3,000 followers on Tiktok and I’m starting to make money, but this new rule is going to make it harder for me. I feel like I’m being put in timeout or something. The cell phone room doesn’t have near the equipment as the main gym area; this is not good.”
An older male gym member said, “I’m so glad Richard made this new rule. These young people just want to come in here and hangout and take selfies. They get in my way all the time. Look, I’m here to workout, not be part of your photo session. Plus, the clothes that some of these attention seeking young women wear has gotten out of hand. Now, I won’t have to worry about this crap anymore, and I’m pretty happy about that.”
It will interesting to see how this new cell phone policy goes. Will it attract more members to Strong River Bend Fitness, or will it hurt their membership? Will more gyms follow Strong River Bend Fitness? We’ll touch base with Simmons and give you and update a few months from now.