Obama forced to flashID at gym

Washington, June 29 (PTI) Barack Obama may be running
for the most powerful job in the world, but an employee of a
gym here stopped him as well as his secret service agents as
they tried to breeze past the front desk without stopping.
Wanting to get a quick treadmill session before his
first public event with Hillary Clinton, the 47-year-old
Illinois senator headed to the newly-opened Washington Sports
Club in the Columbia Heights neighbourhood.
But the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee, who
hopes to be the first black-American president, did not get
far when he and his entourage of agents tried to walk past the
front desk without stopping, according to the gym's general
manager, Gonzalo Perez-Tamayo.
Perez-Tamayo said the club trains its employees to adopt
a strict policy of asking every member for his or her gym ID
upon entry, even if they happen to be seeking the Oval Office.
The employee manning the front desk on Friday, Takehia
Wheeler, immediately stopped Obama as he rushed inside.
"It's always a rush in the morning, everyone's trying to
come in quickly," Perez-Tamayo said. "She asked him for his
last name and he said 'Obama,' then she asked him for his
first name."
"It was very funny, she then realised who he was and
said, 'Oh I am so sorry!" Perez-Tamayo was quoted as saying
by CNN.
For the record, Obama is a member at the Washington
Sports Club gym network.
The first-time Illinois senator did not appear
frustrated by the inconvenience, Perez-Tamayo also said, but
he probably realised he needs to get a gym card if he wants to
avoid the mix up in the future.
"If he doesn't want to get stopped he needs a card,"
Perez-Tamayo said. "It's the same for everybody."