Swim Rant

I had a perfectly peaceful lap swim workout last night. Not too crowded. No problem sharing lanes. But a couple days before, as I told SwimStud, I had a couple bad experiences. This was a new one. I'm in the locker room after my workout. I rested my swim bag and clothes and suit on a portion of a bench. A lady came up, shoved some of my stuff to the side (there was plenty of room), picked up my wet suit and dumped it on top of my dry clothes. I was shocked. Exactly who gave her permission to touch, move and trash my stuff?! She didn't even say a word or indicate that she needed even more room. Now, that is a real piece of work. I don't think anyone can defend that one. I feel your pain! That kind of invasion of another's space would feel pretty weird. Reminds me of a woman who told me that she saw someone pick up her water bottle in the locker room and start to walk off with it--until she said very emphatically, "That's MY BOTTLE!" (And it was a good water bottle, not the cheapie kind I've been known to use.) Sometimes (not often b/c I'm on the shy side), I'll confront someone who's being rude/strange. Some woman commented while I was running up a hill, "You look like you're ninety years old!" I suppose if I'd been 100, I'd have taken it as a compliment, but since I'm in my 50s, it's a little problematic... ;) And I just was in a place where I wasn't going to let it go--especially since she was a crossing guard working in front of school kids... what an example to set for them! So I said to the woman, "Why would you say something like that? That's rude!" I think I caught her off-guard. She apologized and said, "Oh I'm sorry, I was just teasing. I didn't mean to be rude." She then told me she admired/envied runners--I suspect there was some passive/aggressive stuff going on. I wasn't exactly Ms. Perfect Form running up that hill, but still .... I hope after that, the woman thought twice about what she said to people, especially to strangers. Makes me wonder sometimes what makes people say or do arrogant things. What's going on in the head of someone who hasn't enough respect for your belongings that she starts pushing them aside. So on the rare occasions when I ask why someone would do/say something peculiar, I really, really want to know... why??

I had a perfectly peaceful lap swim workout last night. Not too crowded. No problem sharing lanes. But a couple days before, as I told SwimStud, I had a couple bad experiences. This was a new one. I'm in the locker room after my workout. I rested my swim bag and clothes and suit on a portion of a bench. A lady came up, shoved some of my stuff to the side (there was plenty of room), picked up my wet suit and dumped it on top of my dry clothes. I was shocked. Exactly who gave her permission to touch, move and trash my stuff?! She didn't even say a word or indicate that she needed even more room. Now, that is a real piece of work. I don't think anyone can defend that one. I feel your pain! That kind of invasion of another's space would feel pretty weird. Reminds me of a woman who told me that she saw someone pick up her water bottle in the locker room and start to walk off with it--until she said very emphatically, "That's MY BOTTLE!" (And it was a good water bottle, not the cheapie kind I've been known to use.) Sometimes (not often b/c I'm on the shy side), I'll confront someone who's being rude/strange. Some woman commented while I was running up a hill, "You look like you're ninety years old!" I suppose if I'd been 100, I'd have taken it as a compliment, but since I'm in my 50s, it's a little problematic... ;) And I just was in a place where I wasn't going to let it go--especially since she was a crossing guard working in front of school kids... what an example to set for them! So I said to the woman, "Why would you say something like that? That's rude!" I think I caught her off-guard. She apologized and said, "Oh I'm sorry, I was just teasing. I didn't mean to be rude." She then told me she admired/envied runners--I suspect there was some passive/aggressive stuff going on. I wasn't exactly Ms. Perfect Form running up that hill, but still .... I hope after that, the woman thought twice about what she said to people, especially to strangers. Makes me wonder sometimes what makes people say or do arrogant things. What's going on in the head of someone who hasn't enough respect for your belongings that she starts pushing them aside. So on the rare occasions when I ask why someone would do/say something peculiar, I really, really want to know... why??