So, I had a fairly bothersome series of interactions with a guy at the gym yesterday and today. It started yesterday when I was sitting up between sets of bench press. Random guy comes over and taps my shoulder - starting off poorly right off the bat. I do NOT like to be touched by people I don't know and haven't given my permission to. So he taps me, and suddenly he's like a foot away from me hanging over my bar and grinning at me. I took out one headphone and he proceeds to ask me if I'm working out to get a man. WTF?! I said no, I already have one (I don't wear my rings at the gym bc barbells). He looks all disappointed and says "Oh, you have a boyfriend?" Then starts trying to small talk me. I'm a polite person most of the time so I smiled and didn't chew him out like I wanted to, but it pissed me off the rest of the time. Why should I be there to get a man?! Super rude and sexist.

So I continue my workout, and he wanders around the gym randomly doing a set of this and that, waving at me and continuing to try to talk at times. I get through my workout and head to the child care room to pick up my daughter. He follows me back there and sticks his head in the door, looks around the childcare room, and makes some inane comment about the room. He does not have a child, there's no reason for him to be back there. He turned and went into the bathroom across the hall after a min but I was bothered by him following me into a room where he had no reason to be. I said something to the childcare attendant about him following me back there just bc I was weirded out, then left.

So today, I pull into the parking lot and he's sitting outside smoking. He yells hello across the parking lot, waves, and asks me my name. Stupidly, I give him my first name instead of telling him I wasn't interested in talking. He compliments my daughter's cuteness. I continue on, start my warm ups, and next thing I know, he's hanging around the squat rack waving and trying to talk to me. It was so distracting trying to keep an eye on him bc he kept wandering across the deadlift platform that's part of the rack, and he tried talking to me as I'm gettin ready to squat 165. I finally told him I was working out and didn't want to talk, and he wandered off again. I cut my workout short bc he was creeping me out, go to pick up my daughter, and the childcare attendant tells me he's stopped in at least twice looking around the childcare room before I got in, apparently looking for us.

So at that point I decided to talk to the gym owners bc I'm feeling skeeved out and the gym is my me-time. As soon as I told them I was feeling uncomfortable bc of another member, they described him and asked if it was him. Apparently his dad routinely drops him off and lets him just wander around the gym for hours--like the gym is his daycare or something. The owners were very responsive and said they believe he may be a bit simple, but that they would address it immediately bc they don't want their members feeling uncomfortable. By the time I got my daughter packed up and we left, the owner was on the phone addressing it with the guy. I am so appreciative of having a supportive gym atmosphere! Even if the guy is developmentally delayed and not just creepy, he needs to know it's not ok to touch strangers, creep around the kids area, and hit on people who are trying to work out.

I didn't realize how spoiled I was getting at my little powerlifting gym. Like we might be ridiculous, but it's an inclusive, supportive, accommodating ridiculous.

Then today happened....

I was doing push-ups by an emergency exit, because I couldn't find any non standard walkway space that wasn't being taken by flirting/loitering.

There was a man with a better bun game than me... and given it was bench day, that's saying something.

I used the preloaded fixed ez bars for a lot of my barbell stuff because I didn't have room or barbell. I did ab stuff mid workout because people were everywhere. And just people everywhere wouldn't bug me.... but there were more men checking out their butts than I have ever seen in my life. There were girls just sitting on benches talking to their boyfriends or perspective boyfriends.

But the icing on the cake was this girl who came in while I was Trying to find a bench and bar towards the end.... and I honestly saw her do 1 rep of something right before I left. But otherwise she would grab something...and go to one end of the gym with it, and stand, and dawdle, and huff and puff and sigh... and get in the way.... and then pick it back up, and put it away and go to some piece of equipment and huff and puff and growl and sigh.... like I dunno wtf she was trying to do... I would say just attract male attention... but the growls would indicate just crazy

😂 😂 😂 😂