I haven’t talked much about my personal training studies thus far, and that’s because there hasn’t been much to tell. I’ve been squeezing in time to study whenever I can. The material is interesting, but tough! It’s a lot of info to teach myself and a lot of big words. Why can’t they just call it a Quad? Why they gotta get all fancy breaking it down into other muscles like the Vastus Lateralis and the Rectus Femoris. Bah. Brain hurting…
Anywayyyy another requirement for becoming a certified personal trainer is getting certified in CPR, so last weekend, I did just that. I signed up for a class through HeartStart Training, which is affiliated with the American Heart Association a few weeks ago, and the day finally came.
I headed into the city for my class, which was supposed to run from 6pm-9pm. My confirmation email just gave the address and said “2nd floor.” I arrived at about 5:45 and was immediately confused. The building looked residential – doorman and mailboxes and all. Hmmm. I saw a set of stairs right off the lobby leading up to a door that said, “Opmi Business School,” so I headed up there in hopes that HeartStart had rented a classroom at the school.
The doors led into a little reception area. Buttttt there was no receptionist. In fact, this was the only form of life:
Excuse me, Senor Clown Fish, can you tell me where the CPR class is? No response. How rude.
I went back down to the lobby thinking that maybe there was an elevator bank that would take me to another part of the 2nd floor where the class would be. There were elevators, but the lowest floor you could go to was 14. Hmmm…
I went up to the doorman and asked if he knew where the class was. He directed me back up to the Opmi Business School.
I went back upstairs, walked through the empty reception and started looking for a classroom filled with those creepy limb-less manikins. There were a few classrooms labeled “ESL”, a few computer labs with students working, and the rest… empty. Ho. Hum.
I looked back in my confirmation email and found a phone number. Ring ring. A conversation:
“HeartStart.”
“Hi… I’m supposed to take a CPR certification class tonight at 6pm (it was 5:55). I’m at 116 John Street on the 2nd floor at the Opmi Business School. Is that where I’m supposed to be.”
“Let me look…. Yes, that’s right. Let me call the instructor and have him come get you.”
“Great! Thanks!”
A few moments later, a door labeled “Employees only” by the reception desk opened and a man ushered me in. We walked past a few empty cubicles and into a room that had a glass shelf covered in tchotchkes and tea-set china, a television, and a long table on which sat who I’m calling Phillip. Say hello to Phillip:
“So, you are the only person registered to take this class,” the man, who I assume is my instructor said, “so we’ll have you watch the video and practice and it should go pretty quickly.”
Ok, cool. One-on-one lesson it is. It’s a little creepy. I was expecting a big class room full of people but hey, now I can learn at my own pace and get direct feedback from the instructor. Oh, and I can laugh out loud at the horrible acting in the video (“Oh. My. Good. Ness. I’m having a heart attack!” [gasp! dramatic fall]) because no one else is around to judge me.
Overall, the class was good, my instructor was pleasant, I saved Phillip’s life, and I got certified!
So now I could totally save your life just like I saved Phillip’s. It’s just a shame he didn’t have limbs to actually stand up and walk out of that little room filled with tea china and weird trinkets and go enjoy life. Poor Phillip…
Let’s Chat:
Have you ever signed up for a big class only to end up being one-on-one?
Ever had to use CPR on anyone other than a manikin?
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