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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

To have reprimanded the man who sat on my towel

86 replies

grossedoutswimmer · 18/04/2017 11:01

Name changed for this because embarrassing/I may be being unreasonably petty. Let me know. I'm 38 weeks pregnant and maybe a hormonal blob.

So after dropping DC1 off at nursery, I manage to go swimming (you know, to get the baby moving down in my pelvis) on the first day of my maternity leave, in the nice gym pool that I pay an arm and a leg for but have hardly used lately. Pool lovely and quiet. Doing languid breastroke. Then a bearded, 20-something, visibly sweating man comes out of the sauna and plonks himself down on top of my towel, laid out on one of several loungers (others are empty). I also have a few other things, like my comb and water, so squawk gently "I think you might be sitting on my things". He is frenetically typing away on his phone and just says "oh is this yours?" Doesn't offer to move.

I carry on swimming. He carries on going in and out of sauna, having a quick shower, going back in, coming out, plonking himself down on my towel every time, typing stuff on his phone. Eventually when I get out I have to go over, massively pregnant, and prise towel from under him. At this point I feebly complain "it's all wet." He says "I haven't even been in the water." Doesn't apologise. Towel is wrinkled and damp. I say "in that case you must have been sweating on it." He says I have a filthy mind. WTF?? Everyone is looking now, so I tell him to have some fucking respect and waddle upstairs to have gross shower where I can hardly bear to dry myself. As I go up the stairs he is making unbearably patronising "shoo shoo crazy lady" gestures.

What should I have done? It is gross, right? There were two clean towels (presume one was his) on one of the other loungers but I didn't want to take one of those in case they belonged to the other two swimmers.

OP posts:
scaryclown · 19/04/2017 20:53

report him as a sinister pervert taking photos in the sauna.. to the daily mail.

That'll lern him

flowerfairy6004 · 19/04/2017 20:59

I would've grossed him out and said "oh I think you're sitting on my towel, I'm only saying because sometime I leak breastmilk and I've been using the towel to dry it up, some people get a bit squeamish." Then shrug. Bet he'd jump a bloody mile 😂 Idiots like that usually do! X

sheepskinshrug · 19/04/2017 21:08

It doesn't matter that the towel was owned by the the Gym - you had rented it for your benefit. A fucking hospital bed belongs to the hospital but if some twat got into the bed assigned to you he'd be completely fucking out of order!

Italiangreyhound · 19/04/2017 21:26

He's a rude knob head. Any normal person would have moved. The fact he came back to the sun loungers with your towel on shows he was making a point. No one is going to tell me what to do.

What should you have done. I don't know. I want to say shouted 'Get off my fucking towel." But life is too short!

Forget it, if you do not then he is living rent free in your head and no one likes a free loader!

Enjoy your baby.

Italiangreyhound · 19/04/2017 21:28

Oh I've just thought you should have said,..

"That's my towel, it's OK for you to use it but I did wee on it a bit earlier. I thought my bloody waters had broken!"

Then smile.

My guess is he would have left your towel alone!

ChangelingToday · 19/04/2017 23:00

What a jerk!

Bluebell28 · 19/04/2017 23:45

He was a bully the way he kept coming back to your towel. What a coward , you were obviously heavily pregnant. Please don't let this pig upset you

tweezers · 20/04/2017 09:39

Who replies "you have a filthy mind" when you point out he's wet your towel? He was trying to sexualise the conversation to further intimidate you IMO. Good for you for rising above it. What a rotten pig. I am enjoying everyone's replies to him! He'd better not meet another mumsnetter at the pool, all well armed with riposts now!

I'm glad you told the gym staff, hopefully they will keep an eye on him. They don't want someone like that putting off other customers.
I remember the swimming pool in late pregnancy, and feeling peculiarly vulnerable. It sounds as if it was quite an intimidating situation and you handled very well under the circumstances.
Have you got a friend who could join you next time? or any other pregs who might like to swim with you? Maybe ask at reception to set up a session. Or post on your local NCT?
I hope this "gets rid" of the situation for you and helps you feel better again. Enjoy your pregnancy x

Ifeelsuchafool · 21/04/2017 08:10

Sherbrooke money doesn't equal good manners. I was given the gift of a year's membership to quite an exclusive leisure club when I was pregnant with my third as they had a crèche for my other two. I certainly couldn't have afforded it for myself and I suppose I treasured the privilege of having access to such a nice place. In my experience, the ones who turned up in gas guzzling Chelsea tractors in their designer gym gear were the ones who behaved appallingly rudely to other members. Not that all of them were like that, far from it, but the entitled rude pigs I encountered were always of that ilk.

Urglewurgle · 21/04/2017 08:26

@shellhider You must be a really hoopy frood! Wink

shellhider · 21/04/2017 08:56

@urglewurgle sometimes, but you don't want to know what I'm like after a pan galactic gargle blaster.

High five to a fellow hoopy frood Grin

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