Stories From The Gym - "In Mourning..."

Today was a sad day at the gym... our friend and sometimes adversary, Nox, was fired this afternoon and I'm feeling the need to mourn his permanent removal from my life at the gym.

Things like this happen all of the time--people get fired. The economy is tanking and the fitness industry is simply an unstable place... but in some instances, when certain people are terminated it's questionable.

Nox's pink-slip was quite unexpected by all. In fact, I was in the middle of training one of my favorite clients when he came over to say "goodbye". It was all very dramatic. It just so happened that Relative and Portugal were hitting the weights, in the same area, when he came back to announce his shortcomings.

We were all (EVERYONE) pretty shocked and some were a bit angered. Usually, when someone is let go most people expect it. For example, a trainer was let go just last week, but it never made headlines because, well we all expected it. But today, as Nox let us know, in his shaky voice--holding back tears in his eyes--it just seemed wrong.

I think the wrongness of the situation stems from the fact that he worked hard, he wasn't a slacker, and he was liked by most. Apparently his team was behind in sales and the General Manager--Slouch--didn't exactly like him. Although, the fact remains, whenever any of us needed a manager to help us out, he was always there. He seemed like he liked his job--and he was real on the days when he didn't.

In short, it makes one wonder about their own personal longevity in a place that does't seem to care about much other than bringing in revenue.

So, in short, I'm feeling bad about what happened to poor Nox and I'm thinking, it's definitely time to discontinue my relationship with corporations...

Thoughts?