A girl was working out in an empty gym on the elliptical when a guy came in and got on the elliptical right next to her, despite rows and rows of empty machines. She was a little uncomfortable about this and decided to cut her workout early. That's when the guy took offense to her being threatened by her presence and decided to display how non-threatening he was by losing it on her and accusing her of thinking he was a predator.
Uh, dude. Are you calling yourself out?
This thread was posted to Reddit's r/AITA (Am I the A-Hole) subreddit by Redditor, u/Key_Quail_7921, who is wondering if she is in the wrong for ending her workout early.
Let's just put things this way… I'm a big and hairy man and even I would leave if someone got on the machine right next to me at the gym. When the gym is crowded of course there's no issue at all with using whatever machine happens to be open but there's something disturbing about having someone crowd right into your personal space. It's the same kind of feeling as when someone decides to use the urinal right next to you in an otherwise empty bathroom instead of using one of the other tens of toilets available.
Likewise, my presence at inopportune moments has made people uncomfortable more than once. At least several times I've caused some poor woman to flee or pick up their walking pace just because I happened to be walking in the same direction as her around dusk. My beard and awkwardly flailing gait do nothing to help my case of trying to appear harmless. It can make you feel kinda bad but it's entirely understandable and feeling safe and secure is of paramount importance. In fact, you should always seek to remove yourself from any situation where your subconscious is telling you something is potentially wrong. It's called a survival instinct for a reason.
We're constantly seeing stories where men are making women feel uncomfortable in shared spaces, or even in their own spaces. It's for situations like this that women's gyms exist.
What's your take? Who's in the wrong here?
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