Is it ok to drink water in a gym changing room?

[EachToHerOwn]

Ok, don't shoot me down for asking about such a trivial matter - I know it's trivial, that's what Mumsnet is for!

My DD 4yrs and I were in the changing room after her swimming lesson today, and she was having a drink of water from a bottle. A gym member who had just entered the changing room, pointed to the 'No eating or drinking' sign;
Lady: Have you seen the sign?
Me: We're not eating.
Lady: No eating OR drinking.
Me: (incredulous 😲) It's only water.
Lady: I didn't put the sign up!
Me: Well, I think she's allowed a drink of water. 😧

At this point I left, but was completely gobsmacked by such an attitude!
I completely understand that they wouldn't want people drinking hot drinks, fizzy drinks and even juice but surely it is perfectly acceptable to drink water in a gym setting? Don't most people need a drink during and after their workouts or swimming, including in the changing room?

What would you have said to her?

Given how important it is to stay hydrated during exercise I think banning water in a gym is just plain weird.

To be fair, OP only mentions the changing rooms. Not the rest of the gym. Perfectly possible that they permit drinks, inc water, to be consumed elsewhere in the gym and they just want to avoid it in the changing rooms. So gym floor - fine for water, pool side - fine for water, changing room - not fine = for this particular gym. I can only assume they've encountered issues in the changing rooms and are finding it easier to have a blanket ban.

Not weird to prefer people to not eat and drink in changing rooms - some can be left in a real mess at times. Obviously most would consider plain still water fine normally, but its so easy for people to try and bend the rules that sometimes its just easier to avoid them all.

We've had health and safety and insurance given as reasons. Clearly this can't be the case. Gyms are subject to health and safety laws and best practises nationwide. Insurances are basically generic and usually free of ridiculous clauses

Therefore if either of these were the reason you would expect all gyms to display such signs, which obviously they don't.

common sense prevails, really.

Firstly, we don't know if it was staff enforcing it or a random member of the public. random has no authority to enforce anything.

However if it was a member of the public I would, as previously stated, be putting in a complaint about their attitude and asking the gym to clarify their rule.

At the moment you don't have enough information to be so black and white.

Also, it's healthy to challenge ridiculous rules. Why wouldn't you?

I assume the reason is more likely that in the recent past they've had people leaving the changing rooms in a mess - crumbs, discarded wrappers and bottles.cans, left over food, etc - and that they are fed up with it. Hence the rule.

Yes probably.

How am I unhinged because I disagree with you?
Not at all because you disagree with me - but by the way you are getting at people on this thread - first DrKrogers and now they have gone you've moved onto bubble

You can't see to accept that people have different opinions to you. Whatever!

But Pengggwn, context matters. It's not automatically "wrong" not to abide by a strict interpretation of a rule. It's just not. It depends on context and common sense. Some rules are just silly, some are impractical, and if you're speaking in broad terms (as you appear to be) then there's a whole spectrum up to actually dangerous (cf. examples from history).

There is room for interpretation around this sign, clearly, otherwise there would not be so many folk on this thread who feel it needs further clarification.

It's not a moral imperative to obey all rules, all the time, without question, because a sign says so

Not only that, but didn't there used to be a form of strike called "Work to Rule" that slowed down everything until the bosses agreed to the unions terms?

It's quite terrifying to see the number of people who will obey any rule regardless.

But this is a reasonable rule

But that's where it's subjective. You think so; lots of others don't. Ergo it's not the case that OP was "in the wrong", and it's not black and white. It's a matter of interpretation.

It's you who seems weirdly rigid about this, and yet somehow you're still marvelling that "so many people" can't take on board alternative points of view. That is perhaps why you're getting people calling you unhinged etc. Not that I said that

It's a weird rule. But the rule says no eating or drinking. So no eating or drinking

The rule makers expect you to have enough sense to know that it doesnt refer to water.

like you know on a train platform where it says don't go over the yellow line? It doesn't need to tell you that the rule does not apply to actually getting on and off trains.
i can imagine some of you standing there for ever, unable to cross the line to get on a train because the sign says not to cross it!

Pengggwn

you seem super fun.

How absolutely bizarre. I'm sure a post-exercise bottle can peacefully co-exist with the spirit of ' no food or drink'.

I'd have just nodded and smiled.

i can imagine some of you standing there for ever, unable to cross the line to get on a train because the sign says not to cross it!
PMSL at this image

My gym has a drinking fountain in the changing rooms

and lots of people snack between workouts

I don't think it's a case of what was being drunk. There's simply just a rule of none at all. Just a guess but probably because of the mess unhygienic if it got spill yada yada just a guess though.

I reported a boy (who was with his mum, but she was oblivious and would't do anything) for spraying crisps everywhere whilst masturbating (quite an achievement) whilst standing in the middle of a relatively small ladies' changing room once. The manager didn't quite know where to start with that one. I thought either of those was a bit strange to be doing in a changing room, but the combination of both, well, that brought out the maiden aunt in me.

PS I reckon he was about 9-10!!

Our gym changing room can occasionally get into a mess because children are given rice cakes, crisps, biscuits, Cheerios etc which they then spread around. I can totally see why an exasperated manager might ban eating and drinking for this reason. But to ban plain water would be odd. As others have said, it’s easier to say no eating or drinking but it would take an unusually harsh manager to stop a child having a sip of water