The gym was closed on the day she came waltzing into the place. The only reason the doors were unlocked was that I was in to do the books. I figured the woman must have been illiterate as our opening hours were clearly posted on the door and on the counter, but she ignored them and just barged up to the counter and started banging on the bell.
Eventually tiring of hearing her banging on the bell and yelling out I wandered out to see what she wanted. Well, no, I didn't. I have to admit I wandered out to chase her away.
"We're closed," I said, fronting up to the counter. "Go away and come back when we're open."
"Excuse me," she replied, "but you are open. The door is unlocked and the lights are on and you're here at the counter. That looks open to me."
"OK. We're open, technically, but we're not in operational mode. See the sign? It tells you when you can come in and do things here. There's another one on the door. You can see it on your way out."
"I'm not interested in them," she said. "I want you to teach me to box. I want to take it up professionally."
It's not nice to laugh at potential customers but that doesn't make it easy not to laugh. She was about twenty, would be struggling to make the weight for a straw-weight, presumably had had no training and she wanted to be a boxer. She looked as though a strong wind would knock her down. A punch would probably land her in hospital.
"Um, we're not exactly geared towards training female fighters," I told her. "I can give you a list of a couple of gyms that might be willing to take you on."
(Some customers you just don't want. You just know that they're going to be a real pain. She was one of those, I just knew it.)
"You're not allowed to turn me down on the basis of sex," she said. "That's discrimination and against the law."
I idly wondered what the discrimination act said about turning someone down on the grounds of congenital idiocy. They probably had that covered as well.
"Well, I can't help you right now anyway," I told her happily. "Like I said, we're not in operational mode and none of our instructors are available. Why don't you come back later?"
Much later, like next year.
"You're here and you used to be a boxer. Why can't you train me for my initial lesson? Though I suppose you're a bit old to get in the ring now," she finished up, regarding me dubiously.
A bit old? I gave her a nasty look and asked her how she knew that I used to be a boxer.
She promptly pointed to some pictures on the wall behind me. Typical advertising for a gym, but it showed me in the ring sparring.
"Yeah, well we don't have a female change room or other facilities just yet. It's on the list of upgrades but we haven't got around to doing them yet. Sorry."
Pushy broad. She had no intention of taking no for an answer.
"There's just us here so that won't matter," she said. "And I don't need to get changed. What I'm wearing will be fine for a boxing lesson."
I looked her over and she had a point. She was wearing loose shorts and a tank top, pretty much what she'd be wearing if she was in the ring. I figured what the hell. It would probably be faster to get rid of her by giving her a lesson and showing her how unsuited she was.
So I jerked my thumb towards the bags and told her to move on in. She went dancing over to them, all smiles, while I locked the gym door in case some other nut wanted to come in.
I followed and put a pair of light gloves on her and squeezed on a pair myself. Her's, I laced up. Mine, I didn't bother. I didn't think we'd be there very long.
I showed her how to stand and how to hold her arms and how to throw a punch. Then I invited her to hit the heavy bag. She missed it. Twice.
I again showed her how to stand and how to hold her arms and how to step close enough to your opponent to hit him. Then I invited her to hit the heavy bag. She missed it. Again. I hadn't thought it possible for anyone to be so inept.
She protested that it was my fault. I should put her in the ring and really show her how to box.
It's not done that way, I explained. Let's try the basics first. Once the basics are right, everything else will follow naturally.
She wasn't having a bar of it. I was being deliberately difficult because she was a woman, she claimed. It was rank discrimination and totally unfair. She'd file a suit against me.
Never argue with a woman. When they're right they know it and when they're wrong they know they're right.
I invited her into the ring. She scrambled into the ring and I climbed in behind her. I started to explain what we would be doing and she punched me on the nose.
"What the hell are you playing at?" I roared at her. That surprise punch had stung.
"Isn't that what we're here for?" she taunted me.
I was beginning to suspect a put-up job. If it was, I was going to kill someone.
"There are rules in the ring," I patiently explained. "We don't start until the bell rings and normally we would start towards each other from opposite corners. Because I'm instructing you, or trying to, we'll waive the opposite corners bit. Do you remember anything of the way I showed you to stand and hold your arms?"
Of course not. That would be too easy. I showed her again and she assumed a reasonable position.
"OK," I said. "I'm going to throw a couple of light punches at you. They won't hit for two reasons. One, I'll be aiming them to miss you. Two, you will block them with your arms and direct them even further away from your body. Now, are you ready?"
She nodded enthusiastically and I swung a gentle punch towards her chin. It was going to fall short, as I didn't really expect her to be able to block it, and I wanted her to realise just how close she came to getting a face full of fist.
You wouldn't believe that idiot. Instead of trying to block she tried to duck and also took a step forward to try to connect with me. It seemed to me that what she really wanted to do was just punch someone.
The result of her ducking and stepping forward threw my punch off slightly. It bounced off her chin, quite gently, I assure you, and she went to sleep.
I kid you now. She was out like a light, stretched flat on her back, absolutely spreadeagled on the mat. For crying out loud, I've swatted mosquitoes with a harder punch than that. I've heard of glass jaws but this was ridiculous.