#281 (Try to) Take a Pole Dancing Class
Last week I got an email for a Living Social Adventure for a pole dancing class.
Of course this set off a SYED detection alarm in my head. It sounded like an awesome thing to try. I had been thinking about taking a pole dancing class for awhile, actually, but just not gotten around to doing it yet. So I signed up for it immediately. Not only was it a class, but it also came with THREE drink tickets for champagne and strawberries afterward!
The scary part of taking the class was, obviously, usually only women do it. I wondered how they would react to guys in the class. Would they be embarrassed? Would they just laugh at me? There were other questions I had. Was I going to have to wear high heels? Would there be tipping?
I scoured the description to see if there was anything like “Men discouraged from taking this class” or “DON’T EVEN THINK ABOUT IT DUDES” but there was nothing. The only real stipulation was you had to be 21 since they were serving champagne. You can look for yourself (unless they’ve changed it by now - but I took screenshots in case).
I went to the website of the place giving the class to see if there was any info on men taking their class. From the S Factor FAQ on their site:
Yes, but only by appointment. Due to the nature of our classes, men are not permitted to enter the studios unless they call ahead to schedule a Private Lesson, or RSVP for one of our co-ed events. Please see our Terms and Conditions for more information about our Women-Only Policy.
I felt fine after reading that. Surely Living Social was putting on a co-ed event. Otherwise, wouldn’t they FUCKING SAY OTHERWISE somewhere on the event page?
So I was set for the class. This morning, I looked at the event page closely. I realized there were three different locations: Encino, LA and Costa Mesa. It turns out, the session I signed up for was Costa Mesa. Costa Mesa is over 50 miles away from where I am. I considered trying to change my class but I figured this just made it a scarier thing because what’s scarier than taking the 405 for 50 miles on a weekend?
After an hour and a half (yes, really) I made it to S Factor in Costa Mesa. I went inside and saw a Living Social girl at a sign-in table. “I’m here for the class,” I said. She looked surprised. “Oh, I didn’t know they were letting men into the class.”
“Well, I paid for it so they better,” I said. While I filled out a form, she disappeared. I found out she was calling the studio to see what was up. When she came back, she told me they weren’t allowing men into the class.
What.
“It should have said on the site,” she said. Well it didn’t. She frantically started looking on the iphone saying over and over, “It should’ve said on the site.”
“You can look, but it’s not there,” I said.
Then a teacher from the studio and another Living Social girl, Sarah, who I’d seen at a bunch of other events, showed up. Me and Sarah said hi. “You know him?” the first girl asked. “Yeah, he’s cool. He goes to a bunch of these things!” she said.
Then the teacher explained how this was supposed to be a “safe place” for women because they can feel weird with a guy in the class. That’s fine. I totally understand that. But how did I pay and end up here? Didn’t somebody at some point see the name “GREGORY” on the list and wonder about it?
I didn’t want to give up that easily. After all, I had driven 1.5 hours to get there. I’d spent $10 in gas. And I’d have to do that again on the way back.
“Can’t we ask the women in the class if they’d be ok with it?” The teacher said she didn’t want to do that because some women might not be comfortable with it, but may feel pressure to go along with it. Again, totally understandable.
All three women were extremely sympathetic. They kept apologizing. I knew if I got mad at them, it would be pointless since they were not directly responsible, even though I really wanted to. I just felt defeated. I was really looking forward to the class and writing about it. Now I was coming up empty.
The teacher said maybe we could work something out and they could give me a private lesson “for an additional cost.” Excuse me? That’s the wrong answer. You should be offering me a free class not taking the money already gave you PLUS more. I understand this was just a teacher and not a company rep but still.
This is Living Social AND S Factor’s fault. S Factor should have explicitly told Living Social about how this was not a co-ed event. If they did, then Living Social did not listen to them since it’s nowhere on their site. But S Factor should’ve checked it to see if it was on their site since it’s such an important restriction. Now, should I have called to clarify? Maybe. But I checked both websites and honestly, that should be good enough. How much due diligence do I have to give here?
I’m going to ask Living Social for a full refund. Not credit like they normally give. Then I want an additional $20 in credit for the gas I spent. Unfortunately, the can’t compensate me for the three hours I wasted driving back and forth to Costa Mesa. But they should kiss my ass. It would be nice if S Factor made good on a private or co-ed lesson.
I’ll be sending out emails and I guess we’ll see how the companies react. I figure this still counts as a scary thing. I went all the way down there, prepared to take the class. I tried to come up with a compromise instead of just taking it up the ass and leaving. I’m also complaining to both companies. But I really, really still want to take a pole dancing class.
