RA: Real world pitch

For my real world pitch I went to a gym. I had gotten a Jamba juice, and I guess that with the kind I ordered they were giving away free 24-day-trial passes to 24-hour gyms. So, I was excited.
I activate the free pass, you had to go through the exact same process as signing up for a membership, except it didn't cost you anything. But they treated it just like one. They told you all the benifits, gave me a tour of the gym, pulled me out a calculator and showed me how much I could save by signing up and showed me charts about my physical health improving. They introduced me to the personal trainers and showed me scary pictures of fat people.
About the only thing that really had me almost sold, was their pitch that I could use my free pass for one of two things: 24-days free or a total sign-up fee for only $24. I love to run, and I never get the time to until it's already dark. And this winter especially the thought of running on the ice and slipping and breaking my ankle made the membership sound even better. But, then I realized how much better I love running outside and that in a month, hopefully, the weather should be warming up and the ice won't be nearly as deadly.
While the guy was showing me around the gym, I noticed how social it all seemed. It wasn't a big empty room with treadmills. There were stationary bikes facing in circles so groups of people could work out. The gym was bustling with people, and tvs were everywhere. The jacuzzi was full of beautiful people and everyone was fit and sweaty. I thought this was a great image for them... until I tried to get a treadmill myself. Then it was an all out brawl for the next available machine with the others standing in line. I realized that all the people stretching and doing crunches on the side had been there for 20 minutes and were waiting in line for a machine... regardless of what it was. I finally settled on an eliptical machine even though I had come to run. What I thought was "social" turned quickly into survival of the fittest: litterally. You had to be in good shape to beat the next person to the open machine.
So all in all, I'm glad that I settled for the free days instead of the membership. As good looking as everyone in the gym was, I'll still enjoy running outside even more.