Everyone else is gross and rude, so that means it doesn’t matter if I’m gross and rude, too. In fact, you people who are trying to be polite? Fuck you. You’re just making it too complicated. If you don’t *also *become gross and rude, you’re now an asshole.
If you’re saying I shouldn’t have said anything to the woman who did left a nice wet patch for me to sit in then I don’t care if you think I’m an asshole or whatever. I’d be just as annoyed if she left some…I don’t know, litter or spat or something. Better an asshole than some meek little wuss-bag who either silently cleans up another’s mess or sits in wet patches. If you go on the cardio first you’re still gonna be carrying on some sweaty baggage. If you’re saying I’m an ass because I equated this behaviour primary with the overweight and/or used it as an insult, well no shit. I didn’t twig that until too late perhaps, but give me some credit at least.
Shot From Guns, I’ve read that post about three times and still can’t decipher what you’re on about. If you’re calling me an asshole don’t drip it in as much sarcasm.
Nope, I’m not saying that either. But very seriously I do appreciate the tenor of this last post and do give you credit for your tardy no shit recognition.
The “ass” part is that you still do not seem to consider that there are other options than either meekly accepting behavior that bothers you and approaching someone “gruffly”.
Consider the possibility that that woman was fairly new to the gym and to working out. She knows she is fat and is possibly already uncomfortable exercising in public. She sees what 80% of others in that gym do and copies that behavior, which from your description is at most that big pools of sweat get cleaned up some of the time and wet patches get left alone most of the time and that no one seems to care much one way or the other.
Were going up to this stranger and treating her “gruffly” or leaving her to her ways really the only options open to you?
Now if you had posted that you asked nicely and she immediately went to another machine, left a pool of sweat, and walked away without wiping, then you could have a case for her being a rude waste of gym space. At this point you instead acted the part of the bully, and many of us will knee jerk do exactly the opposite of what a bully tries to force us to do. She had every reason to believe that she had been following gym etiquette. Once she learned that even a small minority of people in that found even small damp spots offensive she might have been happy to wipe completely in the future.
You also mentioned another option in your op, one that really makes a lot more sense if you really want to change the behavior of the gym population as a whole, or at least 80% of them: file a formal complaint with the management. Only management has the tools to implement a change to the culture of the gym. You, asking diplomatically, could effect change one person at a time, but not change the culture. Of course you might complain and they might still make no effort more than the token signs and scattered bottles. But at least trying that is a reasonable approach.
And finally, yes, you could consider accepting that this particular gym’s membership does not share your concern over sweat exposure and just deal with it. Putting your own towel down on equipment, same face down consistently, and/or giving a quick wipe with your own personal bottle of antiseptic spray before use, is really a very simple thing to do, and given that you are working out to try to de-stress, is more likely to save you from having concern over exposure to others’ “personal fluids” than any amount of personal or even management effort to change the culture and make every person who does not see a moist spot left behind as cause for concern or as a mess wipe up out of consideration for you and your concerns (and the rest of the minority of that gym who feel as you do). That’s not meekness in my book. Not that you have any reason to care what is in my book! 
BTW, I think SFG was trying to say that my point about conforming to local culture does not matter - local culture is, according to SFG, still being “gross and rude”. But yeah, hard to make that out.
Well I think we’re finally singing from the same hymn sheet here DSeid. The only reason I was so pissed off at the time is that I too was/am new to the gym - for all I knew, this wasn’t a culture thing but a laziness thing - there’s signs and sprays all over the place that must have been wilfully ignored, was my annoyed thinking. Also why I nodded to the guy on the rowing machine, 'cos I mean I’d want to know. I figured if he didn’t care, no harm done. You might have figured out I’ve chilled out a bit about it now, it just made me livid at the time.
Understood and appreciated.
And cue the sun going down!
At every gym there seems to be an overly anal memeber who makes it a point to notice who’s wiping down their machines after use.
The gym I go to now is a “non wiping” gym. But there’s this bossy old lady (member-not employee)who’s OCD and watches out for anyone who doesn’t. She’s up in everyones face about it…even if she’s not going to use that particular machine.
It’s a pretty clear mockery of the people in this thread who think that everyone else should clean up after their messes. So, the opposite of calling *you *an asshole. Though at this point I worry that you may be a bit stupid.
There are very few dirty old skanks in my gym, but inconsiderate people of all ages and sizes who do not clean up their sweat on the machines. Spray bottles and towels are all around.Yet some people leave slime traces on the machines.
Bolding mine - evidently not. But, er…thanks? Not an asshole, but a bit stupid. Again, I think I’d prefer to be an asshole.
I won’t say this thread is to blame, but on my past two visits to the gym I’ve had to mop up some towel-less jackhole’s disgusting sweat puddle from a bench/machine before using it, like four or five times now. That never seemed to happen before…
Turnip, weigh in here. Was my satire completely obscure, or is **Kobayashi **just setting a new low bar for whooshes?
It was clear to me, but we speak a similar dialect.