"Is this not the right place for you to be, is that what you're saying?"

August 8, 2014

That's what the female, Caucasian supervisor with whom I just spoke at the Chinatown YMCA said to me after:

-I had asked her to tell the janitors who stalk me every time that I am at this YMCA to leave me alone.

-She had denied what was happening.

-I had said "This conversation is going nowhere" and walked away from her toward the locker room.

-She had followed me around the corner to the locker room.

It was when she followed me after I had tried to end the conversation that she said "Is this not the right place for you to be, is that what you're saying?"  That was probably what she was planning to say as soon as she heard that I wanted to talk to her.  Probably, she had hoped to say it without the question mark, thus:  "It seems like this isn't the right place for you."

I'm sure that I'll have to be careful how I deal with being harassed by other YMCA members if I decide to work out tonight.  Because of that conversation with the manager, the chances right now are higher than usual of my being asked to leave if I confront anyone about coughing at me or other harassment, and I'll obviously get no help from staff if I ask them to address the abuse.

This YMCA happens to be in Chinatown; a lot of people are members, not just Chinese Americans.  This is not about race; it's about gender, and about the rights and safety of children.

The conglomerate is telling people that there is nowhere in the world that is the right place for me to be.



Copyright L. Kochman, August 8, 2014 @ 6:23 p.m.