Registration Issues

A man walks into the class with his son and daughter.  He tells me that his son is signed up for the 12 years old and under boxing class.  I saw that his son, Brenan, was not listed on the attendance sheet.  "Oh, I just signed him up yesterday," the dad explained.

Cordell was the only one who came in for the teen class, so I had time to scoot upstairs and check the computer.  Sure enough, Brenan was signed up.  One of my co-workers -- I wish I knew who -- signed the kid up, ignoring the fact that the class is full, and kids are supposed to be at least eight years old to be in the class.  Brenan should have been placed on the waiting list instead.

That kind of stuff puts me in a bad position.  First of all, if management looks hard at the attendance records, they will assume that I authorized letting extra people into a class that was already full.  That is against the rules, as is signing up someone who is too young for a class.  I can't go and tell the parent that their child is not allowed in the class without creating hard feelings.  Looks like I'm going to have to explain to staff members why it's important that I'm able to give everyone in the class individual attention -- something I can't do if the class becomes overcrowded.

Fortunately, I saw Deja in the hallway.  I told her I mistakenly thought she and her brother Terry were not signed up for the class.  I told her that she and her brother should come back to the class beginning next week.

Elizabeth seemed very disappointed that she could not be in the boxing class. Turns out that her mother didn't want her in the sport.  Elizabeth showed up in the middle of the kids' class the day before, following me around like a puppy.  She was oblivious to the fact that there were several kids in the class going off in all directions, and I was trying to keep on top of things.  I allowed her to stay in the class if she would sit down.  Not a good decision on my part.  She began fooling around with the equipment, and I reminded her that she couldn't touch anything.  Then she comes up to me while I was helping another kid and asked, "Can I use the weights?"  I gave a second, stronger reminder that she was not in the class and therefore, the equipment was off limits.  It took way too long for Elizabeth to take the hint, but finally, she left the gym.

Another little girl whose name I can't remember wanted to be in the class, too.  She told me, "My mother doesn't want my face to get banged up."  But I assured her that I don't force anyone to spar nor compete.  "Tell your mom that you can just learn the punches and not have to hit anyone in class," I told her.  She'll have to go on the waiting list, but even if she doesn't get in this session, she would be able to have dibs on the summer session.