to think that leaving your clothes in a cubicle doesn't make it yours. FFS. (Warning, sweary)

[knowitallstrikesagain]

So, swimming yesterday for about half an hour. When I got out, two of the three cubicles around the edge of the communal area were taken and one was full of clothes. I asked the people in the changing room, not theirs. I checked the shower and toilet area, nobody there. So I went in and got changed.

Halfway through changing, there is a knock on the door. 'Is someone in there, that is my cubicle?'
Me: 'I didn't realise this cubicle belonged to anyone'
Her: 'Were the clothes not a giveaway?'
Now, I am allowed to be sarcy, but don't try it if you are in the bloody wrong!
Me: I checked, this cubicle was not being used, I assumed someone had forgotten to put their stuff in a locker. I'll be done i a minute, or do you want me to pass you your clothes?'

Emerge a few minutes later to a cold, dripping woman with a death stare. She had been in the pool when I got out so was definetaly NOT using the cubicle.

I smiled sweetly and said 'There you go, do remember to put your clothes in the locker next time won't you?' and walked off. At least 3 people in the communal area gave me a little triumphant smile.

Now there are fucking great notices everywhere saying 'DON'T LEAVE STUFF IN CUBICLES' so it was bloody obvious she only did it to reserve herself a cubicle after her swim.

WIBU or was she a selfish, rude, ignorant bitch so and so who deserved a lesson?

And why has this made me so irrationally angry?

Well done! There is someone (or more than one hideously selfish individual) who does this at my gym. I actually moved when she knocked on the door. I will not be doing that next time. Clever bitch had covered the cubicle in grim sweaty work out clothes, pants etc so I really didn't want to touch them to move them.

Cheering you!

it seems to have got worse at our local pool over the last 5 years. Now every week after DS' swimming lesson there are no free cubicles. I now shamelessly dump the clothes outside the door, puddle or no puddle. I haven't yet been caught in the act, but then I wouldn't be would I because they are just queuing up to go in the pool for their lesson, not back for half an hour! I'm hoping that eventually me doing this will have an effect...

Changing rooms should have a special, tiny pool for people to dump abandonned clothes into.

They do. It's called a toilet.

I just move the clothes out. Sometimes I have actually got the pool attendant to come and move it. They do because it should be in a locker.

Ooh this kind of thing makes me rage. At DS's baby swimming class the changing rooms are tiny and crowded, and bench space is at a premium. For some reason the dozy mums in the class after ours think it's ok to leave their stuff all over the benches instead of moving it six inches to a locker.

So the mums in my class move it onto the floor.

We need Mumsnet towels....

Design:

BACK OFF! I

Matching Bags for Life (co-sponsored by Waitrose/Greggs)
Car stickers - to warn those tempted to park their PFB-carrier in a Disabled space

Design option 2:

I think, therefore I

Excellent response. It drives me mad too. Also people who use the only lockers with functioning keys in them but don't bother to put the token in so the rest of us who would like to lock our stuff away - can't.

I took somebody's stuff out and put it in a 'lesser locker' (without key) since they couldn't be bothered.

for OP for creative use of sarcasm btw.

I will bear this in mind when I take the DCs swimming in a mo

OP YANBU. Its inexcusable when there are only 3 cublicles.
What i don't get is where these people put their valuables - purse, keys, mobile phone etc. Do they leave these things lying aruond? ARen't they worried about stuff being pinched?

I think, therefore I

that is genius. I would love it to be on mugs etc so as your sat in staffroom etc people will and try and work out who you are on MN and hope they don't feature in one of your AIBU, IL, bad friends threads.

I would have picked up the clothes and dropped them on the floor outside the cubicle in the wet then denied all knowledge.

Some people are selfish knobs.

YANBU. I like your assertiveness

I pointedly ask the person who has pointedly left their bag on the seat if I can sit down, even if there are a few other seats, just to piss them off.

The attendant should check the cubicles & take left stuff to lost property,then charge them.

I did ask a woman if I could sit down on the train once. The thing was, the train was PACKED with people standing up and she hadn't moved her bag - it wasn't that she hadn't noticed! I was also (still am!) noticeably pregnant - I am not one of these women who think because I'm pregnant the world should stop turning but surely you wouldn't sit there with your bag on a seat while an obviously pregnant woman stands there, would you??

water - yes, some people are that selfish. Not many, luckily.

Good for you, OP! OUr local pool has 2 double-length cubicles, and one enormous disabled/family one. The rest are titchy.

I always move clothes out of cubicle if alternative is to wait an unspecified amount of time, as is impossible to change me & baby in 4ft square cubicle. The only alternative is for me to leave baby on floor outside cubicle and hope for the best (doesn't seem wise...) or strip off in middle of unisex changing area. No-one who knocks and asks for clothes has ever had the brass neck to have a go once they see the baby & the size of the other cubicles.

Well done op.
Now am worried aibu? Our pool has several cubicles do not use these and a large square room with lots of bench space never crowded generally only used by people with children I and ds leave clothes on bench lots of space? Do not take valuables car keys in carrier bag with towels and shampoo. Is this wrong? Would not do if crowded

Ah yes yes yes, so stupidly excited to see this thread YASOOOOOONBU!!!!!!!!!

I can now re-tell my story about the changing facilities at my local infant swim session . At the pool there are dozens of teeny tiny changing rooms that you can barely move in even as a relatively slim single person, plus two disabled changing rooms which are permanently locked and two 'group change' rooms. So of course, during an infant swimming session these two rooms are heavily in demand. I once caught two mums actually wedging the door with their holdalls to 'reserve' one of them so that it would look occupied and nobody could use it!

I was so astonished that they would do this in clear view of several people that I followed them onto the poolside and reported it to the pool attendant, whilst pointing them out very obviously. The attendant then marched right over to them and made them move everything and gave them a good telling-off.

But for all the posters who say, 'someone must be doing it', there is one mum that I know from various baby groups who told me quite proudly one day that she had done this. We were in the pool with our babies and I must have said something about it being busy and wondering whether to get out early to make it easier to find somewhere to change and she said, beaming broadly, 'Aha, well I cheated and left all our things in one of the group changing rooms so nobody else can use it hahaha!' I was really shocked that anyone would (a) be such an arsehole and (b) freely admit to it! I have actively avoided her ever since. Selfish cow.

The thing with doing that is if people see clothes etc left there they're going to feel someone else is using the room, so they shouldn't.
At our local pool it sounds similar, and if there were clothes in there I'd look for a bigger cubicle first. The big room is also the only place suitable for disabled changing.

A local swimming pool had a limited number of family changing rooms. I needed them (not because of my DC but because they doubled as disabled changing rooms, and my sister needed the extra space for her wheelchair). A lot of people would change in them, leave their clothes there, and then lock the door from the outside.

Being evil, I'd send my two year old in, under the door. She'd open it, I removed the clothes, carefully stacking them on the floor.

If people glowered at me, as they picked up their wet clothing, well, I could live with the dirty looks.

OP you are my pool changing room hero!