The YMCA: myth or reality ?

When you realize that scrupulous honesty and meticulous observance of the rules don't matter a whit--and in fact may be an annoyance--to an organization which is playing by a different set of rules, you inadvertently let slip a "What the f--- is going in?" (at least to yourself).

And in your heart and mind you die.

You are changed are forever.  You will never the world solely in terms of ideals.  Does anyone who has had a job before do?

That is what happened to me in July 2015 at the downtown Seattle YMCA.

Each branch of the YMCA is a business accorded non-profit status by the law.  Its stated rules are part of how it does business.

America is about the construction and manipulation of appearance to maintain, stabilize, exchange, and dominate relations of power.

It is the pursuit of power, not happiness, that counts for most Americans.

Only small children don't know this.  The kids on Facebook are just getting a handle on how the game is played.

I swam for over two years straight, about 8 hours a week without a single issue--the equivalent of four years for most swimmers, and yet the Executive Director of the YMCA could say with a straight face, "You've caused significant problems for other swimmers, taking up the entire lane, etc."

Yes, in our colloquial vernacular, what a f *** b ***.   Or in 19th century jargon, she's very far from being a lady or even from being a member of the gentle sex of low repute.

Take your pick.

"The truth doesn't matter, the rules don't matter, because I have the power" is what she was implicitly stating.  

It would have been a fair "game" if she hadn't had her assistant at her side and if the "conversation" had been done in full view or earshot of the membership (the lobby).

The YMCA is a socially constructed reality, held together by power relations and not rules of conduct*.

Immigrants, like my parents over half a century ago, must have quickly realized the discrepancy between the ideals and the reality but adapted just as quickly.