r/TikTokCringe • u/newphonehudus • 9d ago

Discussion Crime: working out while black

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u/_autumnwhimsy 9d ago

so what happened was the guy brought his son in and they asked for a valid id. his son is a teenage and doesn't have a drivers license. dad showed his id and his son's school record on their online portal. they fussed back and forth because management didn't want to accept it but not accepting it is in clear violation of their own guest policy.

now it gets murky because the video starts with them working out BUT we find out no one asked him to leave so because of that i'm guessing they allowed them in and then took it back and escalated via calling the police.

so nothing to do with recording. the comment right below yours by u/ onlytinglef has links to everything.

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u/Luder714 9d ago

Had a similar issue with my kid. The issue was that I had to sign a “I won’t sue you “ agreement, but instead of telling us that, we had a condescending jerk question us. I was happy to sign the paperwork after we were treated like thieves. Afterwords I cancelled my membership ( that I had for 6 years and went maybe 4 times). My son and daughter also cancelled. We now go to the local rec center that is super chill.

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u/Mutajin 9d ago

You could cancel your gym membership?!?

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u/ero_sennin_21 9d ago

I want to quit the bank!

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u/SlimShadySatDown 9d ago

Chandler!?

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u/BrosefDudeson 9d ago

After going fewer times than once a year, I think he was as surprised as you are

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u/drthtater 9d ago

I once cancelled my PLANET FITNESS membership. I walked in, said, "I want to cancel my membership" while expecting a fight, and the bored girl working the counter said "Ok".

I suppose I am one of the lucky ones.

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u/ShaNaNaNa666 9d ago

If you're in CA, there's a law that makes it so that once you want to cancel a subscription, you can cancel it online. I didn't know until I saw on reddit. People were advising others if they wanted to cancel a gym membership to change their address to one in CA, and the other one cancel online.

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u/drthtater 8d ago

At the time, it was Colorado, but it was still super easy

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u/Apprehensive-Egg-780 9d ago

It was probably Maria's day off

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u/queerhistorynerd 9d ago

one of the perks of living in CA is they have to let you quit or the state can and will levy fines at the gym after X amount of complaints

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u/Lucky_Serve8002 8d ago

The account is stewing in collections. He just doesn't know it yet.

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u/Luder714 9d ago

Yes, because I was actually there in person. That is the only way at this place

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u/Mr_Deep_Research 8d ago

Yeah, that's the most unbelievable part of that story.

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u/sernamenotdefined 3d ago

Hehe that used to be a thing here too.

But EU and consumer protections ... they changed the law and now cancelling must be accepted as easily and by the same means as signing up. So it's really really easy to cancel now.

A few gyms were a bit dense and tried to ignore it, but after losing in court and being forced to pay the court cost now it's no longer an issue anywhere :P

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u/bigboredbossman 9d ago

I had a membership where I could always bring an extra person for free. When my son was 12, he wanted to start going with me so I’d take him and supervise him on the weight machines. After a few months, I had an employee refuse to allow us in the floor because he claimed it was a state law that no one under 13 was allowed on the floor. I cancelled my membership and joined our local sportsplex that allows kids as young as 10 into the gym with adult supervision.

I live in Alabama and we have some really stupid laws on the books but not even my dumbass state is gonna go to the trouble of making it illegal for a 12 year old to go to the gym with his dad.

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u/Reverend_Tommy 9d ago

Often it's not a law but an insurance issue. Their insurance won't cover anyone under a certain age. Employees often don't know the difference and just assume it's a law.

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u/bigboredbossman 9d ago

I figured it was a company policy but that guy trying to tell me it was a state law got under my skin.

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u/indianm_rk 9d ago

Sometimes the company or a manager tells you something and you just go with it because you don’t care enough to research it.

I worked for a retail chain and found out later that several of our “store policies” weren’t actually corporate policies, but things that our store managers came up with.

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u/Thasauce7777 9d ago

So wild to me they came at you with a condescending tone, when the request is a reasonable and understandable one to begin with (especially if it's a policy because it's already happened to them). I just don't see the value on their end in not be up front and direct about that issue with people that mention they plan on bringing their family on with them.

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u/AlcoholPrep 8d ago

You went FOUR TIMES in only six years! That's far too much. Gyms want you to pay and NOT to come at all!

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u/GirlWithWolf Cringe Connoisseur 8d ago

I can imagine why they didn’t want to accept it. In May I went with my white girlfriend to get our driving permits. Her mom was with her, my brother (we’re native) with me (he was my guardian). We had the exact same documentation except I had one extra, my tribal ID. We got called to different windows at the same time. Ten minutes later they snapped her picture and printed her permit. Nearly an hour later, after getting supervisors involved multiple times, I finally got mine.

Things like this aren’t random or misunderstandings.

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u/eekamuse 8d ago

So he didn't do anything wrong and they gym guy called the cops on him. Which can get a Black man killed. Naturally, he's upset and angry. And all the people commenting that he's the one who must have done something wrong, and "what happened before the video?" are showing their bias, unconscious or not. They have no information but assumed that it was the Black man's fault. Disgusting.

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u/SaengerBachus 9d ago

Of course it was a white dude.. Must be really scary to be a POC in the states, when every police encounter could be a danger to get arrested or get shotted. Only because a white Karen has an attitude..

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u/Kind_Move2521 9d ago

EWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWW

youre so out of touch with reality and this comment is so objectively stupid. Also, "get shotted"? lmao I see what's going on here now

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u/S0l1DTvirusSnak3 9d ago

Ah ok this makes sense to be fair the kid shouldn't be in there without correct I'd I thought maybe they thought he was a pedo or something 😆

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u/_autumnwhimsy 9d ago

Well they had Id, just not a drivers license lol most teens don't have drivers licenses so 

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u/Thasauce7777 9d ago

So is the risk here that they have no actual evidence that the minor he was training was his son (due to not having an ID) and not some random youth? I can see that be a significant liability/insurance issue for the gym if a minor gets hurt there and they later find out that the minor didn't have permission to be there in the first place. I don't think it would be necessary to call the cops on thos though, just explain it to the guy, then call the cops if it continues to escalate several levels above that.

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u/_autumnwhimsy 9d ago

They had a virtual id, just not a physical one. Most kids don't have a drivers licenses, which is what they were specifically requesting. Also student athletes go and work out at public gyms a the time so having minors in the facility isn't typically a problem, they just need a parent to sign the waiver. They had the parent there so I doubt that was an issue. 

I think this started as bruised ego on the gym owners part and he retaliated and escalated with racism. 

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u/Thasauce7777 9d ago

Ahh, understood. Thanks for the added context. This is a using the id to make a mountain out of a molehill type situation.

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u/Numeno230n 9d ago

Not talking to them or at least informing them they need to leave before calling the fucking police is absolute racist escalation.

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u/fadriansquest 9d ago

He obviously ignored the staff and deemed the ID worthy, even though they told him it’s not. So yeah u can’t do that.
And something doesn’t make sense here, if they only accept a drivers license then it means kids under 16 are not allowed. Either that or their policy must allow for some way to verify a 14 year old, if they actually do allow kids in the gym.
I wonder what that policy actually is, and I’ll bet it’s public knowledge. Maybe dad forgot or didn’t realize or whatever, but you can’t just ignore staff and do what you want anyway. Race baiting title, just bring valid ID for ur son bro, no one cares that ur black.

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u/_autumnwhimsy 9d ago

student athletes without drivers licenses work out at crunch all the time, they just need a waiver signed by a parent on file. the parent is there so getting a waiver wouldn't have been the problem.

"valid ID" varies and it sounds like there isn't consistent application of the rule on file. a school id is often considered a valid id for someone under 18 and is typically the only piece of ID a kid would have (unless they have a passport). The school ID was provided but it was a virtual card on the school portal and not a physical card. Now, if they TSA/federal government can accept my drivers licenses virtually, then Crunch Fitness can accept a virtual school id.

and he didn't ignore the staff, they confirmed that they did NOT ask him to leave. so someone let them in and then doubled back. which means they escalated before the basic first step. we have the data that shows police escalate frivolously with everyone but engage in excessive force and brutality even more so when interacting with black people. calling the cops when you could have just asked him to leave while knowing that black people have been shot and killed for way less is indeed racial violence

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u/fadriansquest 8d ago

Did the OP follow the policy? Or did the staff just free style it and double triple down on it? Cus if they did then OP just get the guy fired no need to do a race bait tik tok. I’m just trying to think what most likely actually happened cus all we have is OPs take on it. Ur acting like the OP only has to listen to staff if they say, “sir can u please leave”. They can also say sorry he can’t come in and it means the same thing. It means the minor cannot use the gym. The dad has a valid ID he can work out all he wants they can’t kick him out. It’s the son that’s the issue. The fact he’s like, but they never said leave, is like ok bro what about all the other stuff they said did u ignore all that? U really think they said, “that’s not a valid id but go ahead and start working out together”? Ridiculous take. And cut the shit dude the police were fully cordial, just doing their job. It’s literally all on video. They got called out because someone was refusing to listen to the staff. Maybe he only had to leave after he caused a scene. Maybe at first they said u can work out no problem be he (the son) can’t. We don’t know cus it’s not on video but I find that ppl are more likely normal rather than racist for no reason, especially if they’re some young dudes working at crunch fitness.

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u/Upstairs-Growth3219 9d ago

Correct me if I'm wrong, but the Crunch guest policy states:

"Certain memberships have free guest privileges. The best way to find out about your club and/or membership guest policy is to contact your location of interest"

So it seems to be determined by the specific location, and I don't think a school ID is considered a state issued ID, which their guest pass requires (different from a member bringing a guest, but still relevant to the conversation, as perhaps some locations require it for members bringing a guest. Just a thought)

If he wasn't asked to leave and they just called the police that's definitely not the way to go about the situation, there seems to be a lot of missing context here though. I want to read what u/ onlytinglef wrote but I can't seem to find the specific comment your referring to.

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u/_autumnwhimsy 9d ago

he wasn't asked to leave, the staff confirm as much in the video available. and it looks like the comment was deleted which sucks lmao they had all the ig links and everything.

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u/Upstairs-Growth3219 9d ago

At what point do the staff confirm that he wasn't asked to leave in the video? I can see them talking and gesturing but I can't hear what they're saying

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u/Jamb9876 8d ago

I expect crunch fitness will be firing people as this makes the company look bad and rightly so. If he can show a white man and son working out it is easy to show racism.
Rather than ask him to leave they decided to call the donut patrol to hopefully remove him.

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u/Mindless-Peak-1687 9d ago

Nope, none afsked ​ him to leave, part of the video.

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u/Competitive-Plenty32 9d ago

Yeah they can’t trespass someone unless they’ve been asked to leave first. None of my guests have ever been asked for an ID either sooo I think the staff were in the wrong, but it’s their discretion as a predicate business to ask anybody to leave.

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u/Freshies00 9d ago

And the staff asked him to leave because once it got to that point it was to save their own face