Gah!

I figure skate in the winter. Up until I was in my early twenties, I would skate the normal sessions, but for the last few years, I've used Adult Skate instead. There are a few reasons why:

A) If I skate a junior/intermediate session, the ice is littered with kids who sometimes have no business being outside of CanSkate. I'm much bigger and I move much faster and I don't want to maim any of them. Also, children tend to follow me around and try to talk to me. I like kids. But I'm paying an arm and a leg for ice time. I don't want to become a babysitter.

B) On the flip side, if I skate a senior session, there are usually novice/junior/senior competitors who are looking at being the next Kurt Browning or Kristi Yamaguchi or whatever. These skaters move like lightning and are much faster and carry much more power than me. I don't want any of them to maim me. You may have seen Stars On Ice and noticed that, wow, those skaters move pretty quick! Just try sharing ice with someone anywhere close to that level. You think you know where they are and then BAM, they're right on top of you.

C) I think this is the worst. A combination of A and B. The club is small and has one 'free skate' session. I spend the whole session trying not to maim or be maimed and watching other kids get creamed.

So. I skate in the Adult Skate program. Some of the people still move a little slow and are prone to being knocked over, but at least they have around the same mass as me and I won't hurt them too bad. There usually aren't any Kurt Browning wannabe's on the ice.

Currently, I skate with a club that only has an hour of Adult ice a week. This isn't enough for me. So, I checked out my section's web site and clicked on the list of clubs that offer adult programs, looking to pick up a couple more hours. About 50 clubs popped up. Now, I know that not all of these offer dedicated Adult ice. Most of them just allow Adult skaters and provide opportunities to progress through the Adult test stream, but don't offer separate ice time.

To narrow down the list, I emailed the section asking them to tell me which clubs offer dedicated ice. The section should have a list of what club offers what because they have to sanction all of the programs. And, not to sound like a tool, but I help pay these peoples salaries through my Skate Canada fees. They should help me out.

I got an email back within seconds. What does it say? That I should contact every club on the list with my inquiry on my own. Every club! When the section has a list of programs offered at their disposal. Basically, this person was too lazy to flip through some file folders and give me any sort of meaningful information. I couldn't believe it! What do we have a section office for if they can't answer such a basic question?

It amazes me that such stupid people manage to keep good jobs. To me, things are simple. If you can't/won't do your job, then you shouldn't have it. But somehow, these stupid people seem to stumble through life with good jobs and no one raises an eyebrow or bats an eyelash! How do these people continue to work? Who keeps hiring them? Well, other than Skate Canada I guess. :P

I'm off to blanket email a whole sections worth of skating clubs because my section rep is lazy. Wish me luck. After that, I'll start calling the ones that don't have websites/email.