Nasty story in the paper today about a 19-year-old child care worker at a 24 Hour Fitness here in the Portland area who's accused of sexually abusing an 8-year-old girl placed in his care. As a former member of a 24 Hour club, I'm not surprised. I eventually got disgusted with the inattentive, self-absorbed, unprofessional behavior of the young people who worked there. The place was filthy most of the time, and when someone actually picked the lock on my locker and stole money out of my wallet one evening while I was working out, the kid at the front desk simply could not have cared less. The sum total of his response was something like "Wow, that's a drag, dude." And back he went to whatever the curious agenda of a staff member there might be.

24 Hour got its name when it used to be open 24 hours a day. No longer, apparently. Perhaps it should change its name to 24-and-Under Fitness, because no one over that age is likely to be satisfied with the place.