Spinning: Out of Control in the Gym?
Silence may be golden, but its recent pursuit in a New York City gym has set off a loud debate about entitlement and personal responsibility.
It started in a spin class, when a 49-year-old Wall Street investment partner named Stuart Sugarman began yelling and grunting comments like “You go, girl!” and “Good burn!” as he cycled.
Another participant in the class—45-year-old stockbroker Christopher Carter—was offended by the loud outbursts. He twice asked gym instructors to silence Mr. Sugarman, who continued to shout his self-encouragements.
Mr. Carter exchanged words with Mr. Sugarman, whose retort, “Make me” struck Mr. Carter as a call to arms—and biceps, triceps, pectorals, and deltoids. He grabbed Mr. Sugarman’s handlebars, tipped the bike backwards, and sent the grunter into a wall.
Mr. Sugarman was hospitalized for two weeks with neck and back pain. Mr. Carter was charged with assault.
But while the injured Mr. Sugarman awaited his day in court, the court of public opinion issued a surprising verdict in favor of Mr. Carter. “Don’t know Chris Carter, but can we give him a medal?” was typical of the comments left on a blog and a newspaper website.
Another backer of the alleged assault-er over the assault-ee sized up the situation as “a small part of a much larger issue,” explaining his theory in a comment to The New York Times: “Many Americans have an increasing sense of entitlement. That is, what they want to do is more important than anyone else.”
A Times columnist picked up on the “outsize sense of entitlement,” calling it a phenomenon that helps explain “ballpark loudmouths” who don’t care who their drunken swearing offends, people who answer their cellphones in movie theaters, and “dog walkers who block sidewalks with their long-stretched leashes.”
Did a jury agree? Mr. Carter was found not guilty of assault after jurors expressed reasonable doubt that he had caused Mr. Sugarman’s neck and back trouble. One juror made a point of commenting on Mr. Sugarman’s gym etiquette: “I was like, why must he be obnoxious and disrespectful to the others?”
Tell us what you think: Was justice served? What’s the responsible way to deal with annoying behavior at the gym, the ballpark, the movie theater, or any other public place?
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Comments
Nuisance Neighbors
Well, It;s kinda hard not to get physical with your neighbors sometimes when you’ve had the police out and all the cops say is if you call theman complain one more time, then he’ll site you for disorderly conduct.
My neighbor several times had threatened to knock my teeth in, wear them as a necklace, pointed a shot gun toward my house with my child who is under a year old in my house, threaten to run me over with his car and trespass on my property everyday and the law refuses to do anything about it. What other options does one have besides taking matters into my own hands. Is that entitlement?
Sarah Goble | 8 months, 2 weeks ago
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Mrs. VLJ
Too many people get away with exercising their first amendment rights is what you are basically trying to say. When someone is put in a legal situation where physical /bodily harm is done and people stand up and cheer for the assaulter, the old sticks and stones concept gets thrown away with amendment one. Also, if this was such a unanimous decision about the assaulted/injured party getting just punishment for his obnoxious outcries, why was there only one gym member who assaulted him instead of ALL the spectators who cheered the aggressor on? If the man did not touch anyone, he should not have been harmed. Myself, I would thank him and the gym owners for making me rich on my CIVIL SUIT!!!!!!!!!!
Mrs. VLJ | 4 months, 2 weeks ago
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oh give me a break
That guy who was clearly being rude, and was obviously off somehow in the way he conducted himself in this ‘club,’ I personally am surprised that they didn’t toss the trash out sooner and give the lame his money back to find a gym that does allow morons like him to attend. One of the lesser companies, who actually cares less of the quality of the clients they sign up on a monthly basis.
Barbara | 3 months, 2 weeks ago
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mr biker
Justice served: People are now more interested in self satifaction than carrying about their neighbor. A study was taken in 1960, if a home owner had a dog in his house and a repair man when his home caught fire who would he try to get out first, not brainer, the repair man. 2 years ago the same senerio study and it was the dog to help first. What has happened to our country with respecting and helping others and not worrying about bothering other people
mickey leyva | 2 months, 3 weeks ago
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i am a pitbull person
Why did the pitbull do that to the person.I am just playing around pitbulls are not bad dogs they are just being protective.For them or puppys.
dont need to now | 1 month, 3 weeks ago
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Faculty
I feel that today many of these obnoxious people say and do these things without regard for others because they get away with it. The law suits, calling the police for the person striking the other, after being provoked. Sometimes you have to take a stand and sometimes it requires being phsical to get your point accross. Some people act out do and are extremely rude and obnoxious because they can get away with it, without consequences. This obnoxious behavior might not occur if you can get physically struck because of it.. Some men have the “napoleon complex” and use this to get away with obnoxious behavior and be the big man… The only way they feel that they are a man. I think that Mr .Carter was justified and that the other man will think twice before he does this again. I also have a Karate background and can be passive but there are times to stand up and some people don’t listen to words.
anonymous | 4 weeks, 1 day ago
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