I hate it when people plop their shit down on the benches or machines, as if the equipment was placed there to house their shit and then they act is if i've inconvenienced them when i ask them if it's theirs so i can use the equipment. The entitlement, inconsideration, and other times oblivious nature of many gymgoers makes me very happy that i don't spend much time in commercial gyms these days. I don't know if society changed or if i just have bad luck with encountering idiots or if maybe where i grew up were different people. When i was a teenager my first gym was a Gold's Gym and it was in a small town. People just did not do these kinds of things. I don't know why but you just didn't see this (or people leaving their weights all over the place). No social media or cell phones back then so maybe that had something to do with it too, i really don't know.
After lock down my wife convinced me to go to a gym with her - I am motivation to go since I go so often. My other gyms were always sport specific or just fitness enthusiasts. You used a piece of equipment, cleaned it, and if you needed a break you go to the locker room where all of your stuff is. You needed water and a towel only.
The commercial gyms are the worst.
People spreading on TWO or more machines? Shoot, the gym forces social distancing and has stuff taped off. When people put belongings on a bench and walk 10 feet away to a machine it boggles my mind. Its rude and they have the nerve to get upset when you ask if they are using it.
I taught my wife better than to do that, but her light weight, short sets and machine hopping drives me crazy. But I pick my battles. Instead I get mad about the guy with the back brace on, weight belt, sauna suit, gallon of water unloading his extras on a machine or bench and using the squat rack for 45 minutes using the bar only.