High crimes at the Cinco Center

I am extremely shocked and outraged by a questionable as well asunnecessary incident that happened to me on Tuesday at the CincoCenter.

I arrived there with my training partner Yolanda, and as we wereabout to begin our workout I was approached by an unidentifiedperson who said, “Say man, lemme ask you a question.” Ireplied, “Okay.” The man asked, “Is that yourtrainer?” I replied, “Yes.” At this pointYolanda, my training partner was at the other end of the gymretrieving weights. It was then and only then, that this manidentified himself as Buona, the manager of the Cinco Center.

He told me that Yolanda and I had to leave because I was notallowed to have a personal trainer in the Cinco Center. I then toldBuona that she was not my personal trainer, the definition of whichI assumed to be a paid training partner, but she was just a friendwith whom I workout. Buona then became belligerent and told me thatI just admitted she was my personal trainer. I repeated again,respectfully, that she was not my personal trainer but my friendwith whom I train.

Confident that his investigation had revealed a lying exercisemonger, Buona then insisted that we leave the building immediately.I then politely asked Buona two things: 1) please show medocumentation or guidelines for the facility that states I am notallowed to work out with a partner, and, 2) How are you sounequivocally certain that I pay Yolanda to train me?

Buona obviously did not appreciate my outrageous questioning andagain reiterated that he was the manager of the facility andinsisted we must leave immediately.

Somewhat confused as to what had spawned my blunt and blatantlyrude treatment by Buona, I returned by defying his request andstating that unless he could provide the guidelines to me as wellas explaining how he knows that Yolanda is my paid personaltrainer, I would not leave the gym. Buona outwardly becameinfuriated at my defiance as Yolanda and I started our workout. Hehuffed over to the phone at the front desk and called the SMUPD.

Approximately five minutes into our “criminalactivity” (i.e. workout) an SMU PD officer, PatriciaHernandez, arrived and began discussing the situation with Buonafor a few minutes before approaching Yolanda and me. OfficerHernandez asked us to leave the building so we could discuss thismatter outside.

Outraged by the events thus far, I told Officer Hernandez thatwe were compliant with all of the rules posted on the wall andasked why we were being asked to leave. Officer Hernandez, throughmisinformation by Buona, stated that Yolanda was an unpaid andunidentified guest of the gym, and we needed to leave. I toldOfficer Hernandez that Yolanda was indeed a paid guest who hadfilled out the guest information sheet and Yolanda provided heridentification as well. It is my opinion that Buona blatantly liedto the Officer before verifying that Yolanda was indeed a paidguest member. After we were verifiably in compliance with all therules, Officer Hernandez stated that we would still need to leave.Understanding the situation the Officer was in, Yolanda and Ireluctantly complied and exited the gym willfully. I do realizethat as the manager had ultimate discretion and the Officer had toenforce his wishes.

Once outside Buona and I argued for several minutes as to how heknew Yolanda was my paid trainer. He said that I admitted it, whichwas completely false. I told him that I understood his question asan inquiry into whether Yolanda was my training partner. He saiddefinitively that I was lying; I wondered if he moonlighted as aprivate investigator due to his flawless inquiry techniques,although I didn’t say it. Buona went back inside, and OfficerHernandez stood squarely in front of the door in order to prevent a”breach of security” by the “criminalgymnasts.”

Officer Hernandez took our statements and told us that theuniversity would enact an investigation and hearing. I argued withthe officer to give me Buona’s last name, which sheproclaimed I did not need. I told her that if I wanted to file areport then I would need his full name. Officer Hernandez insistedthat she knew best and prohibited us from retrieving thisinformation from either Buona or herself. She became frustratedwith our incompliance to just walk away from the premises andcalled in for back up, which arrived within a few minutes. I assumeit must have been a slow day for the SMU PD as two more officersarrived and supported Officer Hernandez’s contention that wedid not need Buona’s last name and finally asked us if weneeded anything else.

Yolanda and I finally walked away from the premises withfeelings that fluctuated between hilarious frustration to dazedconfusion.

Upon recollection of the events, Buona obviously felt that byidentifying himself as the manager of the facility initially wouldhave spurred suspicion on my part and would have resulted in adishonest answer. I was very concerned as to how he might havesuspected that Yolanda was my personal trainer, whatever thedefinition, when we had not even begun our workout when heapproached me.

Both he and Officer Hernandez treated us with disrespect andoverreaction. Our questions were not answered, and we were forcedto leave the gym without a single rational answer.

A few days later, I cannot believe the events that transpired.My parents pay exorbitant amounts of money (i.e. $25,000/yr) for meto attend SMU and this is the “private school”treatment that I receive. I assure you that for this amount ofmoney I could afford a membership at a gym where I’m not”criminalized” for working out with a partner.What’s more outrageous is that I was not even given thebenefit of the doubt as to whether Yolanda was my training partneror paid personal trainer. I was presumed a liar from the beginning.This was humiliating to Yolanda and me and unconscionable treatmenton the part of the manager.

I strongly insist that he be reprimanded for his actions. Justbecause I’m a college kid doesn’t mean I’m goingto endure this treatment lying down. Buona should be ashamed ofhimself.

If you would like to make your opinion heard you may contactJudith Banes in the Recreational Sports Department, (214) 768-3366,at [email protected] , or call the Cinco Center directly at (214)768-7348.

I should also note that I recently spoke to Judith Banes aboutthis incident and she apologized and promised to speak with Buona.I hope she does.