Swimming on a Sunday is normally John and Erin’s thing. John often works 6 days a week with Sunday being his only day off and I like to make sure that he and Erin get some real quality time together on their own. Most Sundays they go off swimming in the morning as our local pool lowers part of it so toddlers can stand up in the water and have a play. However, John worked a very rare Sunday last weekend so I took Erin swimming instead.
So, before the pool has an ‘open to everyone’ session there is a learn to swim session for juniors that ends at 10am. I decided to get to the pool for about 9:50 thinking that at least the changing rooms would be free as everyone would be in the pool. How I could have got that wrong I don’t know.
Our swimming pool only has 2 cubicles suitable for families and with changing tables. As a non-driving family I take the pushchair with us and load it up with everything I need. If I can keep Erin in it while I get changed it makes things a million times easier and this means going in one of these cubicles. Erin also still wears swimming nappies and a changing table is sometimes needed in case she does do a poo etc.
When I got into the changing area and got to the cubicles I was really surprised to see that people had left their things in the cubicle and stacked up on the changing tables. There are so many lockers available and right outside the cubicles too so really, I thought it was just rude and lazy. I had a quick look around in the other cubicles too, which I would have had to cope with, and they were also full of people’s things. I was really quite shocked. I wouldn’t dream of doing this.
Seeing as people had left their stuff all over I wasn’t about to waste my swimming time with Erin so I just used one of the cubicles anyway and moved what was in there to the side. When we were ready and putting our things in a locker, the cubicle next door to me was occupied but the door was open. There was a woman in there and a girl of 8 or 9. Now, if someone needs that extra space for whatever reason then I don’t have a problem with that at all. However, not letting other people use the cubicle for a whole hour by leaving your things in there is just wrong, especially as there are lockers directly opposite the cubicles.
I mentioned this to John when he get home from work later that day and he said he’d had the same experience a long time ago and thought it was a one. It made John want to go swimming later instead of when the session started just to avoid the stress of not being able to find a free cubicle, whether it is big enough for families or not.
The thing is, it’s not just this day that I have seen this happen before. Erin also has swimming lessons on a Monday morning where there is an Aqua Fit session right before. A lot of the ladies are of the older generation and also seem to think it’s okay to leave their belongings, such as swimwear or clothes, in the cubicles. You would think that this would just happen in the single cubicles but no, quite often the family cubicles are occupied with bags and clothes.
Would you leave your belongings in a cubicle, especially when there are lockers plenty big enough right outside? Personally, I just don’t understand why anyone would think it’s okay!