It’s fun to stay at the YMCA. Or it was, until everyone started squabbling.
A YMCA in Scranton, Pennsylvania, has banned 24-hour cable news channels from playing in the gym after members started arguing over politics; there have even been “near fights.” In an open letter, the Greater Scranton YMCA’s board of directors said CNN, MSNBC, and Fox News have “raised concerns about the safety, both physically and emotionally, of our members.”
Trish Fisher, the CEO of that particular YMCA, told NBC, “We’ve had members step forward saying they’ve felt a little uncomfortable with the arguments going on over politics.” Not everyone agrees with the ban (there’s that word again), though. “I think it is probably an overreaction,” countered YMCA member David Dimmick. “There was a lot of arguing going on during the election, protesting, that type of thing. But I think it’s all gone now.” Another member, Susan Dimmick, added, “I understand why they did it because there was a lot of controversy with a lot of people talking and arguing. There was a lot of arguing going on, but I don’t think it was right.”
The boycott against “fake news” will be revisited once things “calm down,” so… never? Instead, the YMCA’s TVs will be tuned to the Weather Channel and ESPN, because no one has heated opinions about sports.