Time Out and Time Put In

I'm going to stop telling the youths and the adults that I don't force boxing class participants to compete. For too long, that has given everybody an out when it comes to participating fully in the program. It has led to numerous attendance and discipline problems in the gym.

I've been blindsided too many times by those who, after beginning the class, tell me they don't want to fight. Most of the adults will tell me that upfront. However, few of the youths do. Days and weeks pass by before I learn the youths have no real goals they want to accomplish in the class.  In the meantime, I've wasted my efforts by showing them advanced boxing methods they never plan on using.

From now on, those who don't want to compete will only be shown the basic moves. After that, they are free to use the equipment to their hearts' desire. However, I will not show them anything further. Those advanced moves will be reserved for those who actually want to fight and win. Hopefully, that will cut down on the number of youths who aren't interested, as they will quickly drop out of class or just not bother to re-register again for the class.

As for the adults, most of them don't want to compete, so only giving them the basics so they can do a workout should suffice. Many of the adults don't have the time or energy to put into competing due to the responsibilities they have outside of the gym. Positioning their time in the gym as an exercise class works out better.

Lately, I've been concerned about when I'm not able to be at the gym, mainly due to illness and injury. The contract between the labor union and the park district made late last year still does not allow for most part-time employees, including me, to receive health insurance.  Part-timers can accrue sick time, and personal days add up slowly. But part-times don't get vacation time, and judging by the issues we have to deal with from staff and customers alike, most of us need time off to decompress. Unfortunately, sick days have to substitute for the vacation days. That is not a good situation for part-time employees who may have to use the sick days to recover from illness, only not to have enough time on the books for also having to use those days just to have time off.